Bananas are a type of fruit produced and consumed worldwide. Green bananas display high nutritional value, representing a good source of resistant starch, phenolic acids, minerals and vitamins which are important for human health. Unfortunately, about one-third of all bananas harvested is lost since it is a climacteric fruit and also because the population in general have the habit of consuming only ripe bananas. This great amount of wasted green bananas could be directed to the food industry, thereby improving bananas economics.
Green banana contains high levels of starch, mainly in the form of resistant starch . Raw banana our presents about 75% of starch, of which 3% consists of rapidly digestible starch, 15% of slowly digestible starch and 57% of resistant starch . Starch obtained from green banana our generally exhibits high viscosity and high tendency towards retro gradation, when compared to other starch sources.
Green banana flour, especially unpeeled, can be an important ingredient when the aim is to increase the non-digestible fraction in food and may have positive effects on health.
health benefits using green banana products, most of them related to the gastrointestinal symptoms/diseases, followed by the glycemic / insulin metabolism, weight control, and renal and liver complications associated to diabetes, most of the studies using green banana flour.