Banana is an important food crop in tropical and subtropical countries. Edible Musa plants are classified into AA, AB, BB, AAA, AAB, ABB, AAAA, AAAB, and ABBB genomic groups. In general, dessert banana cultivars in the world are AA or AAA; this last group includes almost all bananas sold. Cooking bananas, also named plantains, are predominantly AAB, ABB, or BBB. The great biodiversity of banana plants provides potential for diverse uses and applications. Banana fruits are sold as fresh, but diverse processes to produce banana food products are reported, including juices, concentrates, freezing, and minimally or fresh-cut products. An important amount of banana food products are produced in an artisanal level or at a low industrial scale in diverse regions of Asia, Africa, and Latin America; however, the nutraceutical potential of banana fruit is interesting for worldwide markets. The processing of banana using traditional unit operations and new methodologies is presented, with a focus in the nutraceutical aspect of the fruit. Food safety and regulatory aspects are mentioned as well as quality attributes physical, chemical, and sensory characteristics. One of the main future goals in this field is the search for new banana varieties and new compounds from natural sources that appear to be healthier for consumers and permit a better preservation of the fruit¿s freshlike qualities. Forthcoming work about the quality of fresh-cut produce should also take into consideration the prevention of nutritional losses as influenced by processing and storage conditions.