Value added products from banana

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Value added products from banana

Banana is the common name for a type of fruit and also the herbaceous plants of the genus Musa. Banana is amongst the most versatile and most widely eaten fruits in the world today. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colours when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red. Bananas can be eaten raw though some varieties are generally cooked first. Depending upon cultivar and ripeness, the flesh can vary in taste from starchy to sweet, and texture from firm to mushy. Unripe or green bananas and plantains are used for cooking various dishes such as banana pudding and are the staple starch of many tropical populations. Banana sap is extremely sticky and can be used as a practical adhesive. Sap can be obtained from the pseudostem, from the fruit peelings, or from the fruit flesh. Nutritional value of banana Table 1 Energy90 Kcal (370 kj) Energy 90 kcal (370 kJ) Carbohydrates 22.84 g Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)

Fat

0.33 g

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Protein

1.09 g

Vitamin B1

0.031 mg

Vitamin B2

0.073 mg

Vitamin B3

0.665 mg

Vitamin C

8.7 mg

Potassium

358 mg

Health benefits of banana Bananas are rich source of energy since it contains sugars such as fructose, glucose and sucrose. Bananas are rich source of iron helpful in preventing anemia. Bananas contain an amino acid called tryptophan which is converted into serotonin helping to improve the mood of the depressed persons. Eating banana helps to alleviate the depressed mood. Because of its fiber (pectin) content it relieves constipation and diarrhoea. It is found from research that bananas can prevent age related loss of sight to a certain degree. Bananas help absorption of calcium from the gut thereby preventing osteoporosis. They maintain kidney health and help in prevention of cancer of the kidney. Because of its high content of potassium it controls high blood pressure. Bananas control hyper acidity and heart burn. It is believed that banana milk shake controls the hang over syndrome in alcoholics. It maintains electrolyte balance of the body because of its content of potassium. The banana fruit peels relieve irritation and swelling of the mosquito bites if rubbed on the affected part. Eating banana reduce the risk strokes by 40%.

Value added products of banana Short shelf life and increased production necessitates development of non-conventional products from banana. A wide range products can be processed from banana. Among the products highlighted are puree, juice, flour, jam, powder, vinegar, confectionery jelly, pectin, breaded banana which have wide commercialization. BANANA PUREE : Bananas for puree production ideally should be harvested at the point of maturity. Ripened bananas at colour index 6 and 7 are selected and washed thoroughly to remove adhering dirt and any chemical residue that may be present. Bananas are then blanched with either food grade steam or boiling water until a centre temperature of 93C is reached. A medium size, unpeeled banana requires 10 to 15 minutes to attain this temperature. Blanched bananas are then cooled and peeled. The puree is then obtained by passing peeled blanched bananas in communition machines. Banana puree has an attractive colour, fine texture and retain its fruity flavour. Banana puree developed must be further treated to ensure their preservation until the moment of final utilization and processing. The puree can be frozen, canned or aseptically packed. The puree is used for beverage industry, baby foods, snack foods, jam and sauces.

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BANANA POWDER : Banana powder has a great potential for commercialization. It has a high sugar and low starch content and can be used as a substitute for fresh banana in making traditional cakes or their premixes as well as in the processing of banana snacks, crackers or crisps. Banana puree processing is the first step in banana powder processing, followed by drying. Good quality puree with proper drying produces good quality powder. Spoilage due to microbial and enzymic activity is greatly reduced at the moisture level of 7.0% but caking is easily developed in banana powder during storage if improper packaging materials are used for the purpose due to its high sugar content. The quality of banana powder is determined by the colour, flavour, texture and moisture content. These are affected by the varieties of bananas and processing operations specially blanching process. Good quality powder is produced from the bananas of right variety and degree of ripeness. Immature or overripe fruits should be excluded from the bulk. Blanching is an important step in banana powder processing for controlling discolouration in the product. There are two main types of colour changes: discolouration caused by either tin or zinc present in the peel rags and browning due to a very active oxidative enzymes. The optimum activity of the enzymes responsible for discolouration is around pH 7.3. BANANA FLOUR : Banana flour is completely different from banana powder because it is the product which is obtained after drying and then grinding of the unripe banana at colour index 1 and 2. This product has high starch content but the starch contains no gluten. The banana flour developed has no banana flavour but it can be used as flour in the processing of snack foods and bakery products with the addition of other flavourings. Its demand can be increased by proper marketing. There is a good scope for a new entrepreneur wanting to start a new and novel enterprise. BANANA JAM : Banana with sweet taste, fine flavour and texture can be processed into excellent jam. The processing of the product is basically similar to that of other fruit jam. Banana puree having total soluble solid and pH value in the range of 24-26 Brix and 4.4-4.6 respectively are the main ingredients used in the processing of banana jam. The proportion of banana puree, sugar, pectin and citric acid used in the processing of banana jam should be given special emphasis in order to produce a clear and fine texture jam. Banana jam has a good shelf-life. Machinery to be installed and used: Pulper, Juice Extractors, Mixer/Grinders, Cap Sealing Machines, Slicers, Bottle Washing Machine BANANA SAUCE : Banana sauce is a ready-to-eat to sauce. It is used for moistening, flavour control and as a garnish to make food more delicious. The sauce has a strong banana taste and flavour and a dull yellow-red colour. The total soluble solid content varies from 39-40Brix depending on the variety of bananas. It has a shelf-life of one year when stored in bottles.

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BANANA DRINK : Banana puree is used extensively in the processing of straight banana drink. This banana drink needs no dilution before consumption. The product is pasteurized at 90C to destroy microorganisms, molds and yeasts before bottling. It can also be canned or aseptically packed. The drink has the total soluble solid content of 12-13Brix and pH of 4.0. The drink may or may not be sweetened. The sweetening agent used can either be sucrose or a combination of sucrose and HFGS. In the enzymatic treated banana drink, pectinase and amylase are added after the acidification process to produce a clear drink. BANANA VINEGAR : Banana vinegar is processed by fermenting the banana juice. Vinegar is a commonly used condiment found in all homes as well as food industry for pickling and thus has a wide market. Vinegar should contain at least 4% acetic acid. Commonly used strains of acetic acid bacteria for vinegar production are Acetobacter aceti and Acetobacter rancens. The production of vinegar by fermentation is a two-stage process. The first involves the alcoholic fermentation of sugar substrate by yeast, usually Saccharomyces cerevisiae to produce alcohol and carbondi-oxide. This is followed by the production of acetic acid and water from the alcohol by Acetobacter sp in the presence of oxygen. The alcoholic fermentation normally takes about a week while the acetification stage takes 1-2 months.

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Value added products from banana

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Vinegar Banana Drink Machinery used for banana products processing Plant and Machinery Keeping in mind the overall size of the market and the financial viability or economics of the project, it is suggested to have rated production capacity of 300 tonnes per year with 300 working days and working of 2 shift every day. To facilitate installation of this capacity, the following set of machineries will be needed : Baby boiler, steam jacketed kettles, washing tanks, pulper, stirrers, vacuum filling machines, bottle washing machines, crown corking machines, and concentration tank.

Item

Quantity

Total Cost (Rs.)

Baby Boiler

50,000

Steam Jacketed Kettles

90,000

Washing Tanks

15,000

Pulper

35,000

Stirrers

45,000

Vacuum Filling Machines

45,000

Bottle Washing Machines

30,000

Crown Corking Machines

7,000

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Concentration Tank

20,000

Precision Weighing Scale

10,000

Other auxillary equipments like weighing scale, glassware, working tables, canteen burners, stainless steel utensils, hand-gloves, cutters and graters, storage racks etc. are also required. Testing equipments like jellmeter, refractometer etc. would be an additional requirement. Expenditure of Rs. 1,00,000/- is considered for other assets like aluminium top working tables, furniture and fixtures, plastic buckets/tubs, storage rack and bins, SS utensils etc Building: The main production block will cost around Rs. 11.83 lakhs. The entire building may be divided into zones for utilizing the facilities efficiently. The development of a wide range of products from bananas will create more interest to the processors to diversify their processing lines and to produce banana products with their better presentation, packaging and improved overall appearance of the products. This will not only substitute or reduce the importance of other fruit products which have been flooding the Indian market for many years, but will also help to capture international markets. Most potential products for commercialization will, therefore, provide new scope for the expansion of the local fruit industry.

Ms. Swamy Gabriela John, III B.Tech Food Technology, Kongu Engineering College, Perundurai, Erode 638052 E-mail : swamygabrielajohn@yahoo.com
Note: The author may have used various references in the preparation of this article. For further details please contact him/her. Disclaimer: Articles & information in the e-zine Science Tech Entrepreneur contain views expressed by individual authors or are taken from various sources Science Tech Entrepreneur does not own any responsibility for their authenticity.

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