A STUDY ON FUNCTIONNAL FOOD PRODUCTION FROM BANANA STARCH AND MICROENCAPSULATED PROBIOTIC

Abstract

Unripe banana fruits are considered to be rich in resistant starch content. This type of starch possesses potential health benefits. This study was conducted to produce a type of functional food from Laba banana starch and a microencapsulated probiotic species, Lactobacillus plantarum. The obtained banana starch had a resistant starch content of 22.49 ± 0.58%, showing a positive effect on the growth of L. plantarum compared with the control MRS medium without carbon source. L. plantarum was microencapsulated with reconstituted skim milk by spray-drying method at inlet temperature of 130 °C and outlet temperature of 60-70 °C. The encapsulation efficiency was 77.88 ± 1.08% and this process provided a high survival probiotic rate of 80.52% when passing through simulated digestive system. Banana starch and microencapsulated bacteria powder were mixed to obtain a final product. A combination of banana starch and microencapsulated bacteria powder at the ratio of 2:1 (w/w) was scored highest in sensory evaluation. The density of L. plantarum of this product was 1.15×109 CFU/g; protein and carbohydrate content were 10.8% and 76.7%, respectively and total fat content was lower than 0.3%. Microencapsulated probiotic powder supplemented with banana starch exhibited a higher viability (89.95%) at the end of the gastrointestinal tract compared with that of microencapsulated probiotic without supplemented starch.