PROCESSING OF WHOLE OR PARTS OF FRUITS OF GENUS MUSA AND RELATED SPECIES

摘要

1. A method of obtaining a banana product, comprising: obtaining at least one unrefined banana, including a peel of a banana and banana pulp, heat treatment of at least one unrefined banana at a temperature and for a period of time sufficient to gelatinize the starch present in at least one unrefined banana to produce at least one heat-treated unrefined banana; and grinding at least one heat-treated unpeeled banana to obtain banana puree. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one unpeeled banana is a green banana. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one unpeeled banana is a ripe banana. The method of claim 1, wherein the temperature is at least 70 ° C and the time is at least ten minutes. A method according to claim 1, further comprising drying the banana puree to obtain a powder from bananas. The method of claim 2, wherein the banana pulp contains from about 10% to 17% by weight of starch. The method according to claim 1, wherein the heat treatment is selected from the group consisting of contacting with boiling water, contacting with steam, contacting with hot water, contacting with hot oil, microwave heating, and contacting with hot air. The method of claim 4, wherein the heat treatment comprises contacting with hot water. A method according to claim 1, further comprising cooling the banana puree to convert gelatinized starch into a gel having a strength of at least about 600 g (tensile force) when measured using a 1 inch (2.5 cm) diameter cylindrical probe. The way