2019 ASHS Annual Conference

Musa basjoo Siebold & Zucc. ex Iinuma (hardy banana; Musaceae) is an herbaceous perennial used ornamentally in temperate climates around the world; it is valued, in particular, for the tropical character of its foliage. Unlike virtually all of its congeners, M. basjoo rhizomes and root systems are able to survive moderate durations of freezing temperatures, making it hardy to USDA zone 6a. Given that aboveground portions (pseudostems and leaves) of mature plants can be quite large (5 m in height) but are killed by frost, the plant must replace aboveground biomass annually; we estimated that a mature clone in southeastern Pennsylvania produced 2.2 kg m^-2 of dry biomass in 2018. To determine if M. basjoo’s high productivity could translate into value as a feed stock for bio-oil and biochar production, we conducted an assessment of the plant’s chemical composition following fast pyrolysis at 550° C. We quantified 37 products of micropyrolysis using GC-MS in leaf blades, petioles, and pseudostems. The three tissue types had similar volatile product profiles; major compounds in the released volatiles included furfuryl alcohol, 2-hydroxy-3-methyl-1,2-cyclopentandione, 2(5H)furanone, acetol and acetic acid. When compared to switchgrass, there were markedly reduced levels of levoglucosan but greater levels of alkyl phenols and syringols. Nonetheless, the chemical profile of M. basjoo is not atypical of herbaceous plants, indicating that it could be a viable means of generating biochar and bio-oil. Future directions will include analyses of pyrolysis products and a viability study of plant growth in the field.