Composition, digestibility and application in breadmaking of banana flour.

Banana flour (BF) was obtained from unripe banana (Musa paradisiacal L.) and characterized in its chemical composition. Experimental bread was formulated with BF flour and the product was studied regarding chemical composition, available starch (AS), resistant starch (RS) and rate of starch digestion in vitro. The chemical composition of BF showed that total starch (73.36%) and dietary fiber (14.52%) were the highest constituents. Of the total starch, available starch was 56.29% and resistant starch 17.50%. BF bread had higher protein and total starch content than control bread, but the first had higher lipid amount. Appreciable differences were found in available, resistant starch and indigestible fraction between the bread studied, since BF bread showed higher resistant starch and indigestible fraction content. HI-based predicted glycemic index for the BF bread was 65.08%, which was significantly lower than control bread (81.88%), suggesting a "slow carbohydrate" feature for the BF-based goods. Results revealed BF as a potential ingredient for bakery products containing slowly digestible carbohydrates.