Formulation and attributes of gluten-free cakes of Andean corn improved with green banana flour.

The aim of this work was obtaining layer and sponge cakes formulated with corn flour replaced by green banana flour and to determine the best substitution proportions to achieve nutritionally improved products and with texture and sensory characteristics acceptable. The replacement of corn flour by GB flour increased the density in layer cake batters, while in sponge cake batters the density decreased. The batters were influenced by the increase in the flow properties, the viscoelastic behaviour, and the decrease in the thixotropic properties. The thermal analysis of batters determined a partial gelatinization of the starch, which together with its rheological properties influenced the cakes' texture parameters. The substitution of 30% corn flour by GB flour in sponge and layer cakes produced a decrease in cohesiveness and an increase in hardness. In sponge cakes, incorporation of up to 30% of GB flour improved the sensory attributes and the textural properties, while in layer cakes a 30% substitution did not significantly deteriorate the quality of cakes.

Ripe Banana Flour as a Source of Antioxidants in Layer and Sponge Cakes.

About one-fifth of all bananas harvested become culls that are normally disposed of improperly. However, ripe banana pulp contains significant amounts of fibre and polyphenol compounds as well as a high content of simple sugars (61.06 g/100 g), making it suitable for sucrose replacement in bakery products. This work studied the feasibility of incorporating ripe banana flour (20 and 40% of replacement) in cake formulation. Physical, nutritional and sensory attributes of sponge and layer cakes were evaluated. The inclusion of ripe banana flour generally led to an increased batter consistency that hindered cake expansion, resulting in a slightly lower specific volume and higher hardness. This effect was minimised in layer cakes where differences in volume were only evident with the higher level of replacement. The lower volume and higher hardness contributed to the decline of the acceptability observed in the sensory test. Unlike physical attributes, the banana flour inclusion significantly improved the nutritional properties of the cakes, bringing about an enhancement in dietary fibre, polyphenols and antioxidant capacity (up to a three-fold improvement in antioxidant capacity performance). Therefore, results showed that sugar replacement by ripe banana flour enhanced the nutritional properties of cakes, but attention should be paid to its inclusion level.

Mechanically fractionated flour isolated from green bananas (M. cavendishii var. nanica) as a tool to increase the dietary fiber and phytochemical bioactivity of layer and sponge cakes.

This article describes the effect of mechanically fractionated flours from green bananas on the nutritional, physical and sensory attributes of two types of cakes (sponge and layer). A plausible 30% replacement of banana flour in the formulation of layer cakes is demonstrated, finding only a small decline in the sensory perception. On the contrary, sponge cakes were noticeable worsened with the use of banana flours (lower specific volume, worse sensory attributes and higher hardness), which was minimized when using fine flour. Both layer and sponge cakes exhibited an enhancement of the resistant starch and dietary fiber content with the replacement of green banana flour (up to a fivefold improvement in RS performance). Moreover, sponge cakes yielded more polyphenols and antioxidant capacity with banana flours, especially with the coarse fraction. Therefore, results showed that a mechanical fractionation allowed a feasible nutritional enhancement of cakes with the use of banana flours.