Physical, chemical and nutritional evaluation of flours prepared with pulp and peel of green banana from different varieties

Abstract Processing of green fruits for flour production can be considered an option to minimize post-harvest losses and add value to the product. This study aimed to evaluate the physical, chemical and nutritional composition of flours prepared with pulp and peel of green banana from different varieties. Silver bananas, plantains, and apple bananas were used to produce the flours. Drying was carried out in an oven at 105 °C for 12 hours. Analyses of pH, moisture, ash, carbohydrate, protein, lipid, fiber and starch contents were performed. All the flours produced showed adequate moisture content. As for fiber content, the flours prepared with all banana varieties presented good results, which was due to the fact that the peel was preserve in their production. High starch content was observed for plantains and apple bananas, which reinforces the large amount of starch found in the green fruit. All flours had low caloric value. The results showed the feasibility of using green banana flour ) prepared with pulp and peel of these varieties mainly because of the fiber content, thus validating the present study. It is also worth mentioning the importance of producing green banana flour with peel, aiming to maintain a greater amount of nutrients, sometimes found in the peel, as well as enabling the full use of the fruit.

摘要 利用青果制备面粉可作为减少采后损失、提升产品附加值的可行方案。本研究旨在评估不同品种青香蕉果肉与果皮制备所得面粉的物理、化学与营养组成。本研究选用银香蕉、大蕉与苹果香蕉制备青香蕉面粉，干燥工艺为105℃烘箱干燥12小时，并对样品的pH值、水分、灰分、碳水化合物、蛋白质、脂质、膳食纤维及淀粉含量开展检测分析。所有制备得到的面粉均具备适宜的水分含量。就膳食纤维含量而言，所有品种香蕉制备的面粉均表现优异，这是因为制备过程中保留了香蕉果皮。大蕉与苹果香蕉制备的面粉淀粉含量较高，这印证了青果中富含淀粉的特性。所有面粉均具备较低的热量值。研究结果证实，利用上述品种香蕉的果肉与果皮制备青香蕉面粉具备可行性，这一结论主要得益于其优异的膳食纤维含量，从而验证了本研究的合理性。此外值得一提的是，带果皮制备青香蕉面粉有助于保留更多果皮中含有的营养物质，同时实现水果的全果利用，具备重要意义。