Bananas grown in Aotearoa for feeding the infant gut microbiota : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Biological Sciences at the College of Sciences, Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand

Abstract

The human gut microbiota is established immediately at birth and thereafter is modulated by a range of environmental influences including the nutrients available within breast milk (and microbiota) or formula which support selective colonisation. Upon weaning to solid foods, the infant gut microbiota begins to become more akin to that of an adult in both microbial composition and metabolite production. Bananas are recommended by New Zealand health officials as an appropriate first food, however at present the only commercial variety available is Cavendish, imported largely from Ecuador and the Philippines. Although, in Northland and Gisborne regions other banana varieties are successfully cultivated, they have not been recognised by the commercial sector as valuable produce. Here we identify the nutritional composition of an array of banana cultivars grown in New Zealand, which are hybrids of acuminata (A) and balbisiana (B) species of banana and how these varieties impact SCFA production by the infant gut microbial population. We further identified the distinct shifts in microbial populations between three banana cultivar genome groups represented as AAA, AAB and ABB. Cavendish is AAA. Genomic mapping of unknown banana cultivars provided insight into the diversity of banana cultivars growing in New Zealand, in which the ecophysiology of bananas growing in this climate has presented different phenotypic characteristics to those of countries where banana horticulture is prevalent. These findings will contribute toward particularly, Māori communities building an emerging commercial banana industry and creating a nutritional database for New Zealand grown banana.