PubAg

Valorisation of rejected unripe plantain fruits of Musa AAB Simmonds: from nutritional characterisation to the conceptual process design for prebiotic production

Author:

Gómez, James A., Pino-Hernández, Enrique, Abrunhosa, Luís, Matallana, Luis G., Sánchez, Óscar J., Teixeira, José A., Nobre, Clarisse

Source:

Food & function 2021 v.12 no.7 pp. 3009-3021

ISSN:

2042-650X

Subject:

Musa, agricultural wastes, amylose, dietary fiber, digestion, gastrointestinal system, glycemic index, ingredients, maltose, plantain flour, prebiotics, process design, pulp, resistant starch, syrups, temperature

Abstract:

The increasing consumption of plantain fruits with specific quality standards generates high agricultural waste. This work aimed at valorising the rejected unripe pulp of Dominico-Hartón plantain fruits (Musa AAB Simmonds). The pulp was characterised physico-chemically, thermally and functionally. The data gathered experimentally and collected from different databases were used to design a production process of isomalto-oligosaccharides (IMO) syrup. The plantain flour contains high levels of starch (87 ± 2%) and amylose (31.2 ± 0.8%). The flour showed stability at high temperatures (pasting temperature of 79.26 ± 0.02 °C), allowing its use in high temperature processes. In vitro gastrointestinal digestion of the plantain flour showed that when cooked, the glycemic index of the flour increased from 47.7 ± 2.2 to 84.2 ± 1.8, while its resistant starch content only slightly decreased from 71.7 ± 1% to 52.6 ± 2%, suggesting that this type of flour preserves high content of dietary fibre after digestion. The conceptual process design showed that 24.48 g of IMO are theoretically obtained from 53.24 g of plantain flour maltose. These results suggest that the rejected plantain pulp holds high potential as an ingredient for the production of prebiotic compounds such as IMO.

Agid:

7339199

http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d0fo03379k