Isolation and Partial Characterization of Banana Starches

Two varieties of banana green fruit growing in Guerrero, Mexico, were used for starch isolation. Chemical analysis and physicochemical and functional properties were studied in these starches. The "macho" variety presented higher starch yield than "criollo". In general, chemical compositions in both starches were similar, except in ash content, where the "criollo" variety showed a lower value than "macho". The results of freeze-thaw stability suggested that banana starches cannot be used in frozen products. Both starches presented similar water retention capacity values that increased when temperature increased. Solubility profiles showed that at low temperature "criollo" had lower solubility than "macho", but at higher temperature an inverse behavior was evident; also the solubility increased when temperature increased. Behavior similar to that for solubility was obtained in the swelling test. The banana starch studies indicate the "macho" and "criollo" varieties have different starch structures as evidenced by viscosity.