The physicochemical properties of plantain (Musa paradisiaca) and banana (Musa sapientum) pseudostem wastes have been determined. It was found that the average moisture content for both samples were very high while the concentrations of solubles in both cold and hot water were moderate, the concentrations of the solubles of the pulverized pseudostems in 1:2v/v ethanol-benzene solution mixture were higher than those of
18% NaOH. The mineral elements detected in the leaf-fold and the core of both Musa paradisiaca and Musa sapientum pseudostem wastes were Na, K, Cr, Mg, Zn, Fe, Cu, and P. Pb was present in trace concentrations in only the banana leaf-folds. The phytochemical composition in mg/100g for the plantain and banana pseudostem wastes were: oxalates (66.28±2.01, 41.56±2.55); phytates (3.78±0.05, 3.23±0.33); tannins (7.99±0.26,
6.55±0.33); and cyanogenic glycosides (1.47±0.14, 1.44±0.33) respectively. Flavonoids, saponins and alkaloids were present in both varieties, but steroids were absent. The values of lignin ranged between 2.28 and 7.30% pseudostems, the carbohydrate between 39.71 and 62.21 mg/100g for plantain and 42.13 and 93.82 mg/100g for banana pseudostems while the pentosan content for both ranged between 6.67 and 11.73 mg/100g. Generally,
plantain, pseudostems waste contains higher values of the phytochemicals than the banana pseudostems except the pentosen content; both contain high amount of carbohydrate which can be exploited for the preparation of pulp for paper making and for production of cellulose derivatives and sugar.