Composite flour cracker enriched with banana flour: Formulation optimization and properties

Abstract

‘Namwa’ banana (Musa sapientum L.) is not only an economical source of dietary fiber which has bio-function properties, but it is also promising for use in snack foods. An extreme vertices mixture design was used to formulate and optimize the composite flour ratios, consisting of banana flour (BF): 20-80%, brown waxy-rice flour (BWRF): 10-60% and cassava starch (CS): 10-60%, for healthy crispy cracker. The pasting properties of individual flour and mixed flour were examined. The textural attributes and chemical properties of crispy crackers were investigated. As banana flour increased, the higher in trough, final viscosity, set back, pasting temperature and peak viscosity of mixed flour were found. The addition of banana flour decreased the peak area and expansion ratio while it increased the density of the crisps. The mixture design proposed regression models to predict the observed attributes. The contours of peak area, count peak, bulk density and expansion ratio were overlaid to acquire an optimal formula region. An optimized formulation for crispy crackers consisted of 33% BF, 14% BWRF and 53% CS. The correlation coefficients between the pasting properties of mixed flour and the physical properties of crackers were very small and mostly negative. Nevertheless, the positive correlations between bulk density with trough and pasting temperature were noted while the pasting temperature provided a negative correlation with expansion ratio and peak count of the crackers. The addition of banana flour in crackers should provide higher dietary fiber and resistant starch in the products as well as healthier food.