Feasibility in Using Banana Flour in Bread Production: Centesimal and Sensory Analysis

Brazil produces about six million tonnes per year of banana (Musa spp), with 35 kg/inhabitant/year average consumption. Banana peel represents about 47–50% (w/w) of ripe fruit but it doesn’t have industrial applications; sometimes it is used in animal feed but in small-scale. On the other hand, banana flour already has proved to be a very promising ingredient, is used in baking, diet products, children’s food, and animal feed. Based on these benefits and considering the great banana productivity in Brazil, the present work proposes the development of formulations of bread from banana flour, as well as analyze the sensory parameters, where acceptance tests were carried out, with a hedonic scale of 9 points; the attributes evaluated: flavor, appearance, texture, aroma, and overall impression. The results showed that the formulations, in general, have been accepted, except that produced by a mixture composed of 70% banana flour and 30% wheat flour, which presented a significant difference in relations with the other, for all attributes analyzed.