Addition of green banana flour to instant noodles: rheological and technological properties

Nowadays, there is considerable concern about the consumption of high fat and low fiber foods. The objective was to develop instant noodles (IN) with functional properties by adding 10% green banana flour (GBF), and determine the effect of this on the dough rheological properties. Noodles were obtained through sheeting, steaming and frying process. The IN were characterized for their moisture, fat, resistant starch (RS), texture and color. The proximate composition showed that GBF was rich in ash (3.16%), fiber (8.88%) and RS (45.70%), being an attractive raw material for the production of functional IN. When 10% GBF was added, rheological properties of dough changed because of dilution of gluten, making it weaker, but with enough extensibility and elasticity for functional IN production. The addition of 10% GBF significantly reduced the oil content in all the frying times, when compared to the control noodles, increasing also RS content. Ban10 noodles showed a lower L* value (78.12), indicating a darker color than the control noodles (92.36). In analyzing the firmness of Ban10 noodles, a decrease was observed due to dilution of gluten. However, Ban10 noodles showed a better nutritional profile due to the increase in ash and dietary fiber contents. In conclusion it can be affirmed that Ban10 noodles can be considered as functional IN, due to the presence of fiber (5.79%) and RS (3.98%) contents in the final product