SENSORY QUALITY OF BANANA PEEL CRACKER

Malyn V. Elopre and Melchora E. Marzo

Bunawan, Agusan del Sur

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the sensory quality of banana peel cracker. The five
treatments used in the study were the following: T0 (100% banana pulp), T1 (75% banana peel and 25%
banana peel), T2 (50% banana pulp and 50% banana peel), T3 (25% banana pulp and 75% banana peel),
and T4 (100% banana peel). Samples were rated in terms of aroma, color, taste, texture, and general
appearance and being evaluated by twenty selected board of tasters composed of faculty and students
coming from the different Colleges of Agusan del Sur State College of Agriculture and Technology,
Bunawan, Agusan del Sur. The Friedman Two-Way Analysis of Variance was used for the statistical
analysis to test the difference for ranks between treatments. A multiple comparison of mean ranks was
employed to the samples with significant difference using Significative Minimum Difference (SMD).
Results revealed that there were significant difference between treatments at 5% level in the products’ tastes
and texture and no significant difference among treatments in terms of the products’ aroma, color, and
general appearance. It was concluded that banana peel is ideal in making cracker with acceptable qualities
in controllable level. It is recommended that banana peel will be used for processing baked or pastry
products with varying amounts.

Introduction

Crackers are popular as cookies and breads. Every grocery store has a cracker barrels filled with
square potato crackers or round butter crackers. These grocery stores are traditionally one of the popular
centers of social life in small towns, even throughout the world (Franklin, 2005). Crackers are made from
unleavened dough. Cracker dough is a mixture of flour and water but may contain fat, sugar and other
ingredients mixed together into it which is rested for a period and then passed between rollers to make a
sheet (Agu, 2007).
Martinez, Sta. Cruz, and Vega (2001) created a map that treated out the preference of consumers
who scored the samples high are adults rather than the youth and they scored the samples according to
appearance, texture, flavor, and overall acceptance.
The characteristics of a good cracker biscuit according to Allen, (2002) are the following: crisp and
crunchy with a good feel in the mouth when eaten, golden color, uniform outside appearance, no burnt or
over cooked spots, even inside texture, not too hard, chewy, and firm or tough when eaten. The confidence
in the collected data, she made the tests fair, and the sources of error were minimized.
Fruits can be made into crackers like mangoes, tamarind, bananas, etc. like other fruits, bananas
are good flavors for crackers. Bananas are used in various food industries too, but these industries use
banana pulp, and banana peel is a waste product for them. It has been estimated that 2000 tons of banana
peel are discarded annually in Asia from food processing plants, hence posing serious environmental
problems (Ghaziabad, 2010). Proper utilization and upgrading of the value status of banana rejects, wastage
from banana production in the country is greatly reduced, if not totally eradicated (Lejano, 2009).
In this aspect, the researcher attempted to use composite materials like the banana peel to substitute
banana pulp in preparation of cracker. Furthermore, these lessen the risk of serious environmental problems.
Statement of the Problem

This study intended to evaluate the sensory quality of banana peel in preparation of cracker.
Specifically, this study sought to answer the following questions:

1. What is the sensory quality of banana peel cracker in terms of aroma, color, taste, texture, and
general appearance?
2. Can the banana peel be used as substitute to banana pulp in preparation of cracker?
3. Is there any significant difference between the banana peel cracker to the plain banana pulp cracker?

Objectives of the Study

Generally, the study aimed to evaluate the sensory quality of banana peel in the preparation of
cracker. Specifically, it aimed to:

1. evaluate the sensory quality of banana peel cracker in terms of aroma, color, taste, texture, and
general appearance;
2. evaluate if the banana peel can be used as substitute of banana pulp in preparation of cracker; and;
3. determine the significant difference between the tastes of banana peel cracker to the plain banana
pulp cracker.

Materials and Methods

Experimental Design

This study employed the experimental method to evaluate the sensory quality of banana peel in
preparation of cracker.

Materials

All the needed ingredients were bought from the local market. Kitchen utensils and other equipment
were borrowed from the Technology and Livelihood Education Food Laboratory of ASSCAT.

Preparation of Banana Peel

The banana peel was processed through the following:

1. Wash the bananas thoroughly to remove dirt.

2. Peel the bananas and secure the peel.
3. Chop the banana peel, boil until soften.
4. When it is done (the peel is already soft enough to be mashed), strain to remove excess water.
5. Mash the banana peel.

Preparation of Banana Peel Cracker

1. Mix butter, flour, and ¼ teaspoon fine salt together until crumbly.
2. Buy using s fork, stir the chili sauce and mashed banana peel.
3. On a floured surface, knead mixture gently adding a small amount of flour if necessary to make the
dough firm.
 4. Divide dough into half and roll out one half at a time on a floured surface until thin enough to cover
prepared cookie sheet.
5. Place dough on cookie sheet and sprinkle lightly with coarse salt.
6. Using a pastry cutter, cut the dough into tiny squares.
7. Baked 6-8 minutes or until light brown.
8. Remove cracker with a spatula and place on a rack to cool.

Treatment and Treatment Combination

T0 = for the control (100% banana pulp)

T1 = to represent (75% banana pulp and 25% banana peel)
T2 = to represent (50% banana pulp and 50% banana peel)
T3 = to represent (25% banana pulp and 75% banana peel)
T4 = to represent (100% banana peel)

Experimental Lay-out

Ingredients T0 T1 T2 T3 T4
Mashed Banana Pulp 1c ¾c ½c ½c
All Purpose Flour 1c 1c 1c 1c 1c
Fine Salt ¼t ¼t ¼t ¼t ¼t
Chili Sauce 8 drops 8 drops 8 drops 8 drops 8 drops
Butter ½c ½c ½c ½c ½c
Coarse Salt ¼t ¼t ¼t ¼t ¼t
Mashed Banana Peel ¼c ½c ¾c 1c

Data Gathered

The following data were obtained from the rating of sensory evaluation:

1. Taste – the sense which perceives and distinguishes between salty, bitter, sour, and sweet
substances through the stimulation of the tastes buds: the palatability of the food.
2. Texture – the quality produced by the arrangement of the composition of the food as to fineness
and coarseness: the way food feels in the mouth (whether it is rough, smooth, light, heavy, etc.)
3. Color – a visual sensation as a result of varying wavelengths of light reaching the eye: describes
the usual color of the food product (brown, light brown, dark brown).
4. Aroma – a distinctive, pervasive, and usually pleasant or savory smell of a certain food.
5. General Appearance – the appearance of the food product as a whole without packaging materials.

Statistical Tools and Analysis

Sensory Evaluation

Samples were placed in separate saucers for evaluation. There were 20 evaluators composed of
students and instructors randomly selected. Each evaluator was provided with a score sheet in which the
product will be evaluated in terms of aroma, tastes, texture, color, and general appearance. Each evaluator
was provided with water for mouth rinsing after each sample has been tasted.

Statistical Analysis
 Friedman Two-Way Analysis of Variance by ranking (FR) and Turkey Type Nonparametric
Multiple Test were used as statistical tool to test the difference in ranks between treatments. A multiple
comparison of mean ranks were employed whenever the test statistical were found significant. The rating
of each evaluator for each of the treatment was converted to ranks.

Results and Discussion

The study entitled “Sensory Quality of Banana Peel Cracker” was conducted at Agusan del Sur State
College of Agriculture and Technology, TLE Food Laboratory, Bunawan, Agusan del Sur. There were five
treatments used in the study. All treatments were subjected to the same procedure. They only differ on the
amount of banana pulp and banana peel.
Friedman Two-Way Analysis of Variance was used to test whether there is a significant difference
between treatments in terms of the product’s aroma, color, taste, texture, and general appearance. The level
of significance was set at 5% level.
Table 1 shows the result on the rating of the aroma of banana peel cracker. Treatment 1 (75% banana
pulp and 25% banana peel) and Treatment 2 (50% banana pulp and 50% banana peel) got the highest mean
of 3.65 followed by Treatment 3 (25% banana pulp and 75% banana peel) with a mean of 3.60, Treatment
0 (100% banana pulp) got a mean of 3.45, and Treatment 4 (100% banana peel) with a mean of 3.40.
Statistical result showed that there was no significant difference in terms of the product’s aroma. This
simply means that all treatments are comparable with each other in terms of aroma.

Table 1. Ratings of the evaluators on the aroma of banana peel cracker.

All means followed by the same letter are not significantly different at 5% level (Significative Minimum Difference).

Table 2 shows the result on the rating of the taste of banana peel cracker. Crackers made up of
100% banana pulp ranked first with a mean of 3.60 but it is not significantly different from Treatment
1 (75% banana pulp and 25% banana peel) and Treatment 2 (50% banana pulp and 50% banana peel)
with a mean of 3.40, together with Treatment 3 (25% banana pulp and 75% banana peel) with a mean
of 3.50. This means that the above-mentioned treatments are comparable to each other in terms of
texture. The least was Treatment 4 (100% banana peel) with a mean of 2.70.

Table 2. Ratings of the Evaluators on the taste of banana peel cracker.

All means followed by the same letter are not significantly different at 5% level (Significative Minimum Difference).

Table 3 shows the result on the rating of the texture of banana peel cracker. Treatment 0 (100%
banana pulp) ranked first with a mean of 3.75, followed by Treatment 3 (25% banana pulp and 75%
banana peel) and Treatment 4 (100% banana peel) got the mean of 3.70. Next was Treatment 2 (50%
banana pulp and 50% banana peel) had a mean of 3.45 and the last was Treatment 1 (100% banana
pulp) with a mean of 3.20.
The results indicate that there was a significant difference at 5% level. It also showed that in terms
of texture, the following samples were comparable with each other: Treatment 0 (100% banana pulp),
Treatment 2 (50% banana pulp and 50% banana peel), and Treatment 4 (100% banana peel).
Further, statistical analysis also revealed that Treatment 0 (100% banana pulp), Treatment 3 (25%
banana pulp and 75% banana peel), and Treatment 4 (100% banana peel) were comparable to each
other in terms of texture.
Table 3. Ratings of the evaluators on the texture of banana peel cracker.

All means followed by the same letter are not significantly different at 5% level (Significative Minimum Difference).

Table 4 shows the result on the rating of the color of banana peel cracker. For the product’s mean,
Treatment 1 (75% banana pulp and 25% banana peel) had a mean of 3.30, Treatment 2 (50% banana
pulp and 50% banana peel) had a mean of 3.20, Treatment 4 (100% banana peel) had a mean of 3.10,
Treatment 0 (100% banana pulp) with a mean of 3.05, and Treatment 3 (25% banana pulp and 75%
banana peel) with a mean of 2.90.
Based on the result of the statistical analysis, there was no significant difference between treatments
at 5% level on the product’s color. This means that all treatments were comparable with each other in
terms of color.

Table 4. Ratings of the evaluators on the color of banana peel cracker.

 All means followed by the same letter are not significantly different at 5% level (Significative Minimum Difference).

Table 5 shows the result on the rating of the general appearance of banana peel cracker. The
following are the different means of the cracker’s general appearance. Treatment 4 (100% banana peel)
had a mean of 4.00, Treatment 3 (25% banana pulp and 75% banana peel) had a mean of 3.80,
Treatment 0 (100% banana pulp) got a mean of 3.75, and Treatment 1 (75% banana pulp and 25%
banana peel) had a mean of 3.60.
Result of the statistical analysis showed that there was no significant difference between treatments
at 5% level on the products general appearance. This means that all treatments were comparable with
each other on the said parameter.

Table 5. Ratings of the evaluators on the general appearance of banana peel cracker.

All means followed by the same letter are not significantly different at 5% level (Significative Minimum Difference).

Conclusion

Based on the result of the study, it is concluded that banana peel is ideal ingredient in processing
cracker with acceptable qualities within controllable amount. Different samples were acceptable in terms
of aroma, color, taste, texture, and general appearance.
It is concluded that banana peel can substitute banana pulp in processing cracker up to 75% level,
and banana peel cracker is comparable with banana pulp cracker.
There is no significant difference of the product’s aroma, color, and general appearance. On the
other hand, result revealed that there is a significant difference of the product’s taste and texture.

Acknowledgment
 This work would not have been possible without the full support of the people around us. Nobody
has been more important to us in the pursuit of this study than the members of our family. We would like
to thank our parents, whose love and guidance are with us in whatever we pursue. They are the ultimate
role models. We are very thankful to all of those with whom we have had the pleasure to work during this
and other related works. Each of the members of the committee has provided us extensive personal and
professional guidance and taught us great deal about both scientific research and life in general.
We also extend our gratitude to ASSCAT family, headed by the ever-supportive President, Dr.
Juarlito V. Garcines and the ASSCAT Research Team for this opportunity to share this endeavor and above
all to our Almighty Father who provide unending inspiration, heavenly wisdom and bountiful blessings.
This study is humbly dedicated.

Malyn V. Elopre
Melchora E. Marzo
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