If less mature fruits are used, the flour may taste slightly astringent and bitter due to the tannin content.
The dried chips may be stored as reserve ‘famine foods’ or ground and milled into flour as required.
Banana flour is used to prepare gruel and porridge, often in admixture with cereal flour from maize or millets. It is used in foods for babies and invalids but also be used in preparation of bread and beverages.
Banana flour can be blended with other flours for making chapattis, biscuits, papadams and extruded foods.
Fours obtained from unripe banana are an important source of indigestible carbohydrates and polyphenol compounds. It is high starch content of the pulp and cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin levels. It can be modified by enzymatic and chemical treatments to increase the amount of indigestible carbohydrates.
Banana flour
