Banana - Tropical and Subtropical Fruits: Postharvest Physiology, Processing and Packaging - page 145

which can increase the risk of some colonic diseases such
as colon cancer. However, the in vitro classification of starch
(Englyst et al., 1992) has gained importance in recent years,
in particular the slowly digested starch (SDS), which may
prolong satiety and could be incorporated into foodstuffs
marketed for weight loss programs. SDS may be beneficial
in products used by athletes due to the fact that it provides
a longer, more consistent source of systemic glucose (Wolf
et al., 1999).

Musa sapientum, showing granules with shapes from oval
to elongated and granule sizes ranging from 20 to 50 μ m;
both starches showed the Maltese cross, indicating a high
degree of molecular orientation within the granule (Bello-
Perez et al., 2000). Micrographs of banana starch clearly
showed mostly lenticular starch granules, with a few small
spherical ones (Bello-Perez et al., 2005). The 37% amylose
content of banana starch ( Musa paradisiaca ) was higher
(Aparicio-Saguilan et al., 2005) than in diverse cultivars
and hybrids of plantain, where the amylose level was in the
9.1% to 12.0% range (Eggleston et al., 1992). In another
variety ( Musa balbisiana ), the amylose content was 22.2%
(de la Torre-Gutierrez et al., 2007). The amylose content is
important in the paste and gel formation characteristics for
starch applications.
Banana starch ( Musa paradisiaca ) gave an X-ray pattern
that was a mixture between the A- and B-type polymorphs,
also referred to as C-type (Bello-Perez et al., 2005; de la
Torre-Gutierrez et al., 2007; Soares et al., 2011). However, a
B-type pattern for banana starch has often been reported as
the dominant one (Faisant et al., 1995; Teixeira et al., 1998).
The crystallinity level of banana starch ( Musa paradisiaca )
was 19% to 36% (Millan-Testa et al., 2005; Soares et al.,
2011)).
Bello-Perez et al. (2000) reported an average gelatiniza-
tion temperature (Tp) of 69.5 ◦ C for two varieties grow-
ing in Guerrero, Mexico, assessed by differential scanning
calorimetry (DSC); the Tp was 74.5 ◦ and 75.0 ◦ C with an
enthalpy value of 13.0 and 14.8 J/g; in the variety Musa
paradisiaca, the Tp was 80.7 ◦ C with an enthalpy value of
16.8 J/g (Nu nez-Santiago et al., 2004). However, in the
Musa paradisiaca variety, higher Tp (77.6 ◦ C; 79.2 ◦ C) and
enthalpy values (23.4 J/g; 25.1 J/g) were obtained (Millan-
Testa et al., 2005; Aparicio-Saguilan et al., 2005, respec-
tively). Other phase transition, named retrogradation, was
assessed in gels of banana starch prepared with extrusion
and stored at different storage times. The enthalpy value
was the parameter used for determined the starch reorgani-
zation on the storage. The DSC results of the melting of the
retrograded samples in excess water showed an increase in
the melting enthalpy on storage, believed to be related to
the order formed in the sample during retrogradation. The
changes in melting enthalpies obtained on storage showed
that a plateau is reached after

INNOVATIVE PROCESSING
TECHNOLOGIES

Starch isolation and modification
Unripe bananas have a very high amount of starch (approx-
imately 60-70%, on dry basis) (Juarez-Garcia et al., 2006).
Starch undergoes changes during its processing, especially
thermal processes, which change textural and nutritional
characteristics of a product. Starch-rich crops can be pro-
cessed for the isolation of starch since this polysaccharide
is widely used as raw material in diverse industries. Nowa-
days, novel starches from unconventional sources (fruits,
roots, and seeds) have gained interest due to improved or
diverse physicochemical and functional properties, espe-
cially for the development of new products. Additionally,
the nutraceutical potential of starchy food products has in-
creased the interest in this polysaccharide.
Banana starch is isolated from diverse varieties, and its
characterization has been reported widely (Lii et al., 1982;
Eggleston et al., 1992; Perez-Sira, 1997; Bello-Perez et al.,
2000; Waliszewski et al., 2003; Millan-Testa et al., 2005;
Coulibaly et al., 2006; De la Torre-Gutierrez et al., 2008;
Dufour et al., 2009; Espinosa-Solis et al., 2009). Varia-
tions in amylose content (from 9.1% to 37%) and X-ray
diffraction patterns (A-, B-, or C-type) have been found.
The studies above mentioned isolated banana starch at lab-
oratory scale, but with the objective to produce banana
starch for some industrial applications, a pilot plant scale
isolation procedure was developed, where lots of 100 kg of
unripe banana ( Musa paradisiaca L.) fruit were used with
yields between 9 and 10 kg of dry starch (within 10% mois-
ture content). This procedure can be feasible for industrial
proposes (Flores-Gorosquera et al., 2004).

∼ 8 hours (Bello-Perez

Characteristics and uses
Morphological characteristics of banana starch granule de-
pend on the variety, for example, banana starch of Musa
paradisiaca presented granules of irregular shape, and the
size varied from 10 to 50 μ m(Perez-Sira, 1997). Banana
starch was isolated from the varieties Musa paradisiaca and

et al., 2005).
It was reported that banana starch paste presented a
Brabender viscoamylograph peak viscosity 4 times higher
than corn starch evaluated at the same concentration (Ling
et al., 1982). Rapid Visco Analyzer (RVA) was used to
study the pasting properties of banana starches. The two