Characterization of banana starches obtained from cultivars grown in Brazil

• Brazil is the world’s third largest banana producer.
• Green bananas contain substantial starch content which can be extracted for industrial utilization, avoiding waste in their production cycle.
• The understanding of starch properties of green bananas is essential for the industrial application.
• The banana is presented as a potential source of native starches with special properties.

The starch market is constantly evolving and studies that provide information about the physical and rheological properties of native starches to meet the diverse demands of the sector are increasingly necessary. In this study starches obtained from five cultivars of banana were analyzed for size and shape of granules, crystallinity, chemical composition, resistant starch, swelling power, solubility, thermal and paste properties. The granules of starch were large (36.58–47.24 μm), oval, showed crystallinity pattern type B and the index of crystallinity ranged from 31.94 to 34.06%. The phosphorus content ranged from 0.003 to 0.011%, the amylose ranged from 25.13 to 29.01% and the resistant starch ranged from 65.70 to 80.28%. The starches showed high peak viscosity and breakdown, especially those obtained from ‘Nanicão’ and ‘Grand Naine’. Peak temperature of gelatinization was around 71 °C, the enthalpy change (ΔH) ranged from 9.45 to 14.73 J g−1. The starch from ‘Grand Naine’ showed higher swelling power (15.19 g g−1) and the starch from ‘Prata-Anã’ higher solubility (11.61%). The starches studied are highlighted by their physical and chemical characteristics and may be used in several applications.

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