Journal of Food Processing & Technology

Abstract

Comparative Study of Ripe and Unripe Banana Flour during Storage

Singham Pragati, Genitha I and Kumar Ravish

Banana flour is an excellent alternative to minimize postharvest losses and to retain the nutritive value of fresh bananas. Unripe banana flour is rich in resistant starch, dietary fiber, and aids in colon health. Ripe banana flour contains high amount of iron calcium, potassium and reducing sugars which helps in better blood circulation and also aids in curbing the craving for nicotine, caffeine. Comparative effect on physico-chemical, re-constitutional and sensory qualities of prepared unripe and ripe banana pulp flour were evaluated during the storage of sixty days at ambient conditions. Water absorption capacity of unripe banana flour was greater than ripe banana flour. From FTIR spectroscopy it was cleared that ripe banana flour was more dried than unripe banana flour. Due to presence of sugars in ripe banana flour, its hygroscopicity was much higher than unripe banana flour. Potential value added products such as cookies from unripe banana flour and bread from ripe banana flour were prepared to determine the utilization of banana flour as functional food ingredient.