Caracterização físico-química das farinhas de polpa e casca de bananas em diferentes estágios de maturação

Abstract

Banana is one of the most consumed fruits in the world, having great importance for the Brazilian economy. As a result of its high production and the various losses that occur in the production chain, alternatives for the use of bananas and their residues have been developed. By presenting vitamins A, B and C, resistant starch and potassium, the banana is considered a food of high nutritional value allowing its application in the food industry. However, there is a scarcity of data on the physicochemical aspects of banana flours at different stages of maturation. In view of this gap, this work aimed to prepare peel and pulp flours from three banana cultivars in two stages of development: mature and immature. In addition, the flours were characterized, obtaining moisture contents from 5.31 to 15.10 g/100g, lipids in the range of 5.20 to 12.20 g/100g, ash from 2.49 to 11.50 g/100g, proteins 4.34 - 9.48 g/100g and compounds with antioxidant activity in ABTS tests (46.5 - 173.0 ug Trolox equivalent/g of dry sample), DPPH (0.7990 - 15.30 ug equivalent of Trolox/g of dry sample) and total phenolic compounds (26.10 - 237.0 mg equivalent of gallic acid per g of dry mass). Therefore, the development of flours from the peel and pulp of different ripe and unripe bananas proved to be possible and viable, considering their proximate composition and their antioxidant capacity. In this way, this work highlights the possibilities of developing products based on flours with mature pulp, as welll as peel, since these have proven to be efficient, like those of green bananas that are usually used for this purpose.