Having read Aunt Bean's reports on papaya fermentation, I've been looking at similar ways to make use of whole bananas. This appears promising because:

"Banana contained dopamine at high levels in both the peel and pulp. Dopamine levels ranged from 80-560 mg per 100 g in peel and 2.5-10 mg in pulp, even in ripened bananas ready to eat." [1]

This post describes my experiences using a double fermentation approach in which the first fermentation makes yogurt, to which chopped whole bananas are added and pureed, followed by a second fermentation of the whole mix.

On the basis of limited data (3 tests of the fermented mix, plus control tests), a large helping, made from 500 ml yogurt and two medium bananas, has for me a symptomatic effect similar to that given by approximately 25 mg levodopa.

However, there are dangers attached to the process, so I am not asking that anyone repeats this experiment. If the wrong bacteria colonizes, yogurt can be dangerous. This is especially true of the second stage where the insides of the banana have not been pasturized. Also, those taking MAO inhibitors, common for Parkinsonian patients, are at risk if they eat large amounts of fermented food as is the case here. This is the FDA advice from December 2009:
"The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved revised prescribing information for rasagiline (Azilect®) reducing medication and food restrictions. The newly approved prescribing information reflects reduced concerns regarding the use of rasagiline together with certain medications, including many over-the-counter cough/cold medications . Additionally, patients taking rasagiline no longer need to follow a general dietary restriction of ordinary levels of tyramine, an amino acid found in certain foods and beverages, such as air-dried and fermented meats, aged cheeses and most soya bean products. However, ingestion of very high levels of tyramine (e.g., >150 mg) should be avoided by patients taking MAO inhibitors." [2]

Process

In clean conditions:
1. Add 100 ml live yogurt (acidophilus) to 1 lt whole, pasturized milk.
2. Keep at 30 - 44 degree C for 12 - 24 hours, which should give yogurt.
3. Put 4 medium organic, yellow bananas in boiling water for 2 minutes.
4. Top and tail the bananas. Chop roughly.
5. Put the bananas and yogurt into a blender and blend until smooth.
6. Keep at 30 - 44 degree C for 6 - 12 hours.

To create the warm temperatures required for the fermentation, a sealed jug containing the ingredients together with another jug containing, initially hot, water were placed in an insulated box. The optimum temperature for acidophilus growth is 37 degree C [3]. To keep close to this value, the hot water was changed every few hours.

Temperatures were measured without the need to open the box by using a probe thermometer. I estimate the range of temperatures was 30-44 degrees C.

Tests

Measurements were made using an online, side to side tap test program [4].

Each test was made first thing in the morning, at least 12 hours after the last medication was taken, and on an empty stomach (apart from the item under test). An initial measurement was made at time 0. I then ate or took the item under test. Where this was the fermented banana it took approximately 15 minutes to eat. A test was taken at time 30 minutes; testing continued at 30 minute intervals.

Tap test results are shown in the table below. A high number is good.

The row headers are:
A: no food or drugs
B: bananas only, not skins
Y: yogurt only, 24 hr fermentation
S: Stalevo: 75 mg levodopa, 18.75 mg carbidopa, 200 mg entacapone
F-12-6: fermented bananas and yogurt, 12 hr first fermentation, 6 hr second fermentation
F-24-12: fermented bananas and yogurt, 24 hr first fermentation, 12 hr second fermentation
L/R: left/right
1 .. : where a test was repeated, the sequence number.

The column headers are the number of minutes after the food was eaten or the drug taken.

The cell values show the number of cycles completed in 30 sec.

(I'm sorry, the tables do not format as expected.)

[TABLE]
[TR][TD] [/TD][TD]0[/TD][TD]30[/TD][TD]60[/TD][TD]90[/TD][TD]120[/TD][TD]150[/TD][TD]180[/TD][TD]210[/TD][TD]240[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]AL [/TD][TD]11.27[/TD][TD]12.30[/TD][TD]10.98[/TD][TD]11.89[/TD][TD]12.31[/TD][TD]11.48[/TD][TD]9.65[/TD][TD]10.41[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]AR [/TD][TD]10.50[/TD][TD]10.48[/TD][TD]10.23[/TD][TD]9.70[/TD][TD]9.67[/TD][TD]11.19[/TD][TD]9.58[/TD][TD]9.47[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]BL [/TD][TD]9.43[/TD][TD]8.48[/TD][TD]8.21[/TD][TD]8.58[/TD][TD][/TD][TD][/TD][TD][/TD][TD][/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]BR [/TD][TD]9.69[/TD][TD]8.11[/TD][TD]9.14[/TD][TD]8.08[/TD][TD][/TD][TD][/TD][TD][/TD][TD][/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]YL [/TD][TD]11.10[/TD][TD]9.77[/TD][TD]11.18[/TD][TD]10.31[/TD][TD]10.84[/TD][TD]10.04[/TD][TD][/TD][TD][/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]YR [/TD][TD]11.61[/TD][TD]11.30[/TD][TD]10.46[/TD][TD]11.48[/TD][TD]10.48[/TD][TD]9.59[/TD][TD][/TD][TD][/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]SL [/TD][TD]10.05[/TD][TD]10.01[/TD][TD]14.63[/TD][TD]12.71[/TD][TD]11.74[/TD][TD]10.70[/TD][TD][/TD][TD][/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]SR [/TD][TD]10.19[/TD][TD]11.01[/TD][TD]15.02[/TD][TD]13.98[/TD][TD]12.69[/TD][TD]12.50[/TD][TD][/TD][TD][/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]F-12-6L[/TD][TD]8.98[/TD][TD]8.48[/TD][TD]9.98[/TD][TD]9.39[/TD][TD]11.01[/TD][TD]11.41[/TD][TD]11.07[/TD][TD][/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]F-12-6R[/TD][TD]10.71[/TD][TD]10.25[/TD][TD]9.69[/TD][TD]9.86[/TD][TD]11.67[/TD][TD]11.71[/TD][TD]10.61[/TD][TD][/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]F-24-12L1[/TD][TD]10.52[/TD][TD]12.78[/TD][TD]13.51[/TD][TD]12.25[/TD][TD]10.19[/TD][TD]12.33[/TD][TD]10.94[/TD][TD]11.42[/TD][TD]11.73[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]F-24-12R1[/TD][TD]10.32[/TD][TD]11.97[/TD][TD]12.42[/TD][TD]12.92[/TD][TD]11.92[/TD][TD]12.13[/TD][TD]12.41[/TD][TD]9.98[/TD][TD]11.60[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]F-24-12L2[/TD][TD]10.98[/TD][TD]11.57[/TD][TD]13.41[/TD][TD]12.11[/TD][TD]10.79[/TD][TD]9.84[/TD][TD][/TD][TD][/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]F-24-12R2[/TD][TD]11.58[/TD][TD]11.09[/TD][TD]13.14[/TD][TD]12.93[/TD][TD]11.20[/TD][TD]9.72[/TD][TD][/TD][TD][/TD][/TR]
[/TABLE]

There's not enough data to do a proper statistical analysis, but some points can be noted. The initial readings, although held in ostensibly equivalent conditions varied widely: from 8.98 to 11.27 for the left hand and 9.69 to 11.58 for the right hand. One way to address these differences is to use the time 0 results as a baseline and then to make the cell values relative to the baseline. The Stalevo and most of the fermented banana tests peak one hour after being taken. So, the t60-t0 figure is interesting:

[TABLE]
[TR][TD]AL[/TD][TD]-0.29[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]AR[/TD][TD]-0.27[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]BL[/TD][TD]-1.22[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]BR[/TD][TD]-0.55[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]YL[/TD][TD]0.08 [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]YR[/TD][TD]-1.15[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]SL[/TD][TD]4.58[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]SR[/TD][TD]4.83[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]F-12-6L[/TD][TD]1.00[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]F-12-6R[/TD][TD]-1.02[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]F-24-12L1[/TD][TD]2.99[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]F-24-12R1[/TD][TD]2.10[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]F-24-12L2[/TD][TD]2.43[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]F-24-12R2[/TD][TD]1.56[/TD][/TR]
[/TABLE]


The average for the fermented banana is 1.51 and that for Stalevo is 4.70.

Discussion

At an immediate level the results are disappointing: they are vastly inferior to standard medications. However, there are lots of knobs that can be tweaked to improve the efficacy of the fermented banana. So, I think it is worth further investigation.

I don't know how to explain the results. Levodopa synthesis through fermentation? Tyrosine? Lactic acid? Placebo effect? ...

I will be especially grateful for comments on the safety of the fermentation process used.

References

[1] "High content of dopamine, a strong antioxidant, in Cavendish banana."
Kanazawa K, Sakakibara H.
J Agric Food Chem. 2000 Mar;48(3):844-8.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10725161
[2] http://www.nelm.nhs.uk/en/NeLM-Area/...-restrictions/
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactobacillus_acidophilus
[4] http://www.parkinsonsmeasurement.org...eToSideTap.htm

John

John,
The initial analysis which you quoted was apparently for the compound dopamine which is produced by enzymatic conversion from levodopa.
Levodopa can cross the blood-brain barrier following ingestion whereas dopamine can not, therefore the conversion must occur inside the brain cells.
I do not know whether bananas or your fermentation product have significant amounts of levodopa in them or not, but would not expect either one to have efficacy unless it were present.
Robert

The ldopa in mucuna is water soluble and is, in fact, processed in that manner for non-PD purposes by native peoples. It might be possible to think in terms of a bannana "mash" followed by filtrration.

Robert, Rick,

Thanks for your replies.

Yes dopamine is not levodopa. If it were, we could just eat bananas.

My hunch, and this is what I was hinting at towards the end, is that acidophilus fermentation converts the dopamine into levodopa (i.e. the opposite direction to what we normally are interested in), possibly via tyrosine. I can't find any references for this, however.

I tried banana skin tea, but found it disgusting. So, never gave it a fair test.

The fermented banana actually tastes good.

John

DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME.

I was hoping to find a route from dopamine to levodopa using fermentation, but have not found one in the literature. Come on you biochemists, give me a hand here!

However, I have found a route from tyrosine to levodopa.

A 175 gm banana contains 270 mg tyrosine [1]. Yogurt also contains tyrosine.

A paper by Krishnaveni et al [2] describes "the transformation of L-tyrosine to L-dopa by Acremonium rutilum, a fungal tyrosinase producer, isolated from decomposed banana stud."

Their method used:
"Enriched potato dextrose broth was used for optimization studies, which induced high levels of L-dopa under submerged fermentation. A. rutilum gave the maximum L-dopa production (0.89 mg/ml) and tyrosinase activity (1095 U/mg) under the optimized parameters, that is, a temperature of 25 degrees C, pH 5.5, an inoculum size of 2.5 ml, and an incubation time of 72-120 h, with L-tyrosine (5 mg/ml) as substrate."


I don't know whether this is the mechanism I'm seeing, but it is a potential danger.

I cannot find any information about rutilm. But Wikipedia states that:
"Many species of Acremonium are recognized as opportunistic pathogens of man and animals, causing mycetoma, onychomycosis, and hyalohyphomycosis. Clinical manifestations of hyalohyphomycosis caused by Acremonium include arthritis, osteomyelitis, peritonitis, endocarditis, pneumonia, cerebritis and subcutaneous infection." [3]

[1] http://www.appliedhealth.com/index.p...icle&id=114225

[2] "Transformation of L-tyrosine to L-dopa by a novel fungus, Acremonium rutilum, under submerged fermentation."
Krishnaveni R, Rathod V, Thakur MS, Neelgund YF.
Curr Microbiol. 2009 Feb;58(2):122-8. Epub 2009 Jan 3.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19123033# (abstract only)

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acremonium

John

A. rutilum sounds like a bad actor!

A possible alternative route is to use koji.

Sikander and Ul-Haq report:
"mould mycelium of Aspergillus oryzae was used for biochemical conversion of L-tyrosine to L-DOPA" [1]

Aspergillus oryzae, known as koji in Japan:
"is a filamentous fungus (a mold). It is used in Chinese and Japanese cuisine to ferment soybeans. It is also used to saccharify rice, other grains, and potatoes in the making of alcoholic beverages such as huangjiu, sake, and shōchū. The domestication of A. oryzae occurred at least two thousand years ago." [2]

Has anyone got experience of koji fermentation?

[1] "TECHNIQUE FOR IMPROVED PRODUCTION OF 3,4 DIHYDROXY PHENYL L-ALANINE BY ASPERGILLUS ORYZAE"
SIKANDER ALI AND IKRAM-UL-HAQ
Pak. J. Bot., 39(2): 623-627, 2007.
http://www.pakbs.org/pjbot/PDFs/39(2)/PJB39(2)623.pdf

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspergillus_oryzae

John

{It is also used to saccharify rice, other grains, and potatoes in the making of alcoholic beverages such as huangjiu, sake, and shōchū. The domestication of A. oryzae occurred at least two thousand years ago." [2]

Has anyone got experience of koji fermentation?}

NO, BUT CONSIDERABLE EXPERIENCE WITH SAKE . . . . ;-)

jon

Sounds a bit scarey fermenting bananna peels...don't think I'd try it..I always wash papaya outsides well before rinsing/drying / cutting into them ...I have rubbed the
inner part of the skin on my face as a refreshing facial! Watch out for bad bacteria on anything!

Given that there are dopamine receptors in the gut I cannot see why one should not supplement using foods that are rich in dopamine, it may actually take some of the load off the brain. In terms of banana skins the plantain - a type of banana rarely used when ripe, and common in tropical islands - is a variety that is cooked as a savoury dish, and the skins are used as well, by shredding into very fine strips, lightly frying and mixing with spices, onion and serving alongside rice and curry meals. In western countries it can be found in West Indian food shops, and is distinctive for it's green skin. The 'fruit' part of it is often sliced into very thin rounds and fried to make crisps/chips. It can also be cooked with coconut milk into a very mild dish. The plantain skin is a lot more versatile than its rather unpleasant relative, which is only really good for creating a fall...........