Physicochemical and nutritional characteristics of banana flour during ripening.

Banana flour has been recognized as functional ingredient, owing to its healthy nutritional pattern. Nevertheless, unripe and ripe banana flours show different characteristics and scarce information is available about changes undergone during banana ripening. This study evaluates the changes on physiochemical (chemical composition, hydration properties, rheological properties and structural characteristic) and nutritional (resistant starch content, phenolic compound and antioxidant activity) characteristics of banana flour at the initial four ripening stages. The significant increase in protein content and decrease in carbohydrate and apparent amylose content, besides the reduction in pasting properties, between 2nd and 3rd stages suggested a climacteric peak during ripening. Between those stages, a significant decrease in total and resistant starch was produced together with an increase in total phenolic content and antioxidant activity. Therefore, the knowledge of the physicochemical and nutritional characteristics of banana flour at each ripening stage allows better selection depending on the industrial application.