Exploring the functional food potential of Grand naine banana flour (GBF) as a prospective weaning formulation by developing GBF-based composite flour mixes

Abstract

This study was focused on investigating a viable and efficient approach for the utilization and valorization of green banana flour (grand naine cultivar, AAA) (GBF). A series of composite mixes were formulated and tested as a source of affordable, energy-rich weaning food with high market acceptance. The complementary mixes included the following additional ingredients, viz., rice flour, roasted yellow lentil flour, pumpkin seed flour, and sesame seed flour, which afforded four composite mixes (MIX-1 to MIX-4) with saliently increasing concentrations of GBF. Further characterizations revealed that the MIX-4 composite mix had the most favourable characteristics in terms of proximate composition, including protein (15%), moisture (4.48%), and total energy values (401.44 kcal). MIX-4 also showed the highest water-absorption capacity (2.57%) and low solubility (8%), akin to complementary mixes. The high total phenolic content (1.03 mg CE per g) and inhibition capacity (47.94%) of MIX-4 suggest that it has a strong antioxidative capacity as well, which was confirmed by the peroxide and free fatty acid studies done over a period of 60 days. Rheological characteristics further confirmed that the resistant starch in GBF played a significant role in lowering the solubility and enhancing the starch gelatinization of MIX-4. Overall, these results corroborated the functional food potential of GBF-based composite flour mixes for the development of prospective weaning food formulations and for reducing post-harvest economic losses.