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

- The coarser fractions of banana flour yielded more fiber and phenolic compounds.
- 30% replacement of banana flour in layer cakes is proved without a quality worsening.
- The particle size of banana flours strongly influenced the quality of sponge cakes.
- Banana flours increased the content of resistant starch and dietary fiber of cakes.
- Sponge made with banana flours yielded more polyphenols and antioxidant capacity.

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.