Title: Banana (Musa acuminata) Pseudostem as Flour Additive

Proponent: Darryl C. Maylas

Statement of the Problem

1. What are the chemical components present in banana pseudostem as an advantage to commercial
flour?

2. Which among the treatments yields the best?

3. Is there a significant difference between the commercial variable (pure commercial flour) and the
experimental mixture (commercial flour and banana pseudostem) in terms of:
a. nutritional content
b. palatability
c. cost

Main Variable: Banana Pseudostem

Extraneous Variable:
Commercial Flour
Egg
Butter
Yeast
Sugar
Salt

Expected Product: Baked Bread

Control: Bread of Pure Commercial Flour

 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

The pseudostem is the part of the banana plant that looks like a trunk. It is formed by the tightly packed
overlapping leaf sheaths. Banana pseudostem has been known as potential cellulose source. It has been
reported to contain high-quality starch. It is a rich source of fiber and helps in weight loss. Pseudostem have
low glycemic index and have a high content of dietary fiber and antioxidant which is good for diabetes.
Banana pseudostem is rich in potassium and vitamin B6. Vitamin B6 helps in production of hemoglobin
and insulin. It also helps prevent high blood pressure and maintain fluid balance within the body. It is used
prevent and treat kidney stones.
This pseudostem will be cut and become waste biomass after the banana fruit is ripe and harvested,
because the banana plant is unusable for the next harvest. This means, for every cycle of banana fruit
production, large amount of biomass wastes is also produced.
On the other hand, flour is a powder made from grain, especially wheat, used chiefly in baking. It is
the key ingredient of bread, which is the staple food in many countries. Therefore, the availability of
adequate supplies of flour has often been a major economic and political issue. Also, wheat, the most
common base for flour, is being increasingly blamed for the onset of other health conditions, like obesity,
heart disease, and a host of digestive problems.

Related Studies
A study entitled Banana Pseudostem: Properties Nutritional Composition and Used as Food
conducted by Jun Ma on 2015 explored the chemical composition (proximates, minerals, vitamins) as well
as the digestability and functionality of the carbohydrates from banana pseudostem. The neutral sugar in
the non-starch polyssacharides were studied and compared with commercially available natural dietary
fiber supplementa sold in Australia. Pseudostems had higher ratio of soluble dietary fiber to insoluble
dietary fiber, as compared to the commercial supplements. The main neutral sugars in the pseudostems
were glucose, mannose and xylose while those in the commercial supplements were xylose, arabinose,
and mannose, which had different functionality compared to pseudostem fiber. This study is the first to
demonstrate that banana pseudostem is a potential dietary fiber supplement, which may bring health
benefits to consumers and economid profits to the banana growers
Another study is entitled Development and Quality Evaluation of Bread Supplemented with
Jackfruit Seed Flour conducted by Mojaffor Hosain, Monobendro Sarker, Asadur Nur Shuvo, et al. on
2014. The study was conducted to develop nutritionally enriched bread with the jackfruit seed flour
supplementation to wheat flour. After washing and removing the outer brown layer, seeds were sliced
and pretreated by blanching with 0.5% potassium metabisulphite for 10 minutes. The cabinet dehydration
technique was applied for drying of jackfruit seeds at 60°C for 24 hours and then dried slices were milled
into jackfruit seed powder. The jackfruit seed flour was used in different proportion to find out the best
composition for preparing bread with wheat flour. The percentages of jackfruit seed flour used in the
breads were 25%, 35%, 45% and 55%. After analyses, composite breads with different level of jackfruit
seed powder were found nutritionally better than control sample. But a significant decrease in color,
flavor, texture, taste and overall acceptability of breads was observed with the increase of substitution.
Based on results, it can be concluded that bread with a substitution of 25% jackfruit seed flour was most
acceptable in terms of nutritional value and overall acceptability compared to the control and other
samples.
 METHODOLOGY

Formulation of Treatments

Banana Pseudostem Commercial Egg Butter Yeast Sugar Salt

Treatments
Flour (g) Flour (g) (pcs) (g) (tbsp) (g) (g)

T0 Control Group

T1 25 75 1 25 1 5 1

T2 50 50 1 25 1 5 1

T3 75 25 1 25 1 5 1

Experimental Flowchart

Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4

•Gathering of •Washing of the •Food analysis of •Data presentation
materials and banana the product •Statistical analysis
variables pseudostem •Evaluation of •Interpretion of
•Preparation of •Drying of the parameters data
set-ups banana
pseudostem •Conclusion
•Grinding of the •Recommendation
banana
pseudostem
•Mixing the
powdered banana
pseudostem with
the commercial
flour

Rating Scales

Rating Description Interpretation

5 Extremely Palatable Very Delicious
4 Very Palatable Delicious
3 Palatable Savory
2 Partly Palatable Slightly Delicious
1 Unpalatable No Taste At All
Rating Scale for Palatability