Abstract

The importation and processing of wheat grain into flour by economies like Ghana does constitute an enormous economic drain. To remedy this situation, FAO of the United Nations launched its Compost Flour Programme, which aimed to formulate flour mixtures consisting mainly of indigenous raw materials and raw wheat to a lesser extent. The production of plantain baked products, instant breakfast meals and baby food formulation have been proven to be technically feasible with powder from both ripe and unripe fruit. Further, the production of plantain powder and processing of the flour into baked goods could reduce the cost of the plantain baked products and would also reduce dependence on imported wheat and increase self-sufficiency in food. In this investigation, proximate and mineral analyses and some functional properties of ripe Musa sapientum L. powder were analyzed. The powder contained 3.14% moisture, 2.68% protein, 2.68% ash, 0.334% fat, 91.16% carbohydrate and 1603.09 KJ of energy. Bulk density was 0.76 gmL^-1, water-binding capacity of 71.0 g/100g, solubility of 18.87% and swelling power of 5.237 gg^-1. Mineral content per 100 g was analyzed to be 1.125 g sodium, 0.297 mg phosphorus, 2.900 g iron, 0.419 g calcium and 435.200 g potassium.

Key words: Plantain, Musa sapientum, French horn, food product development, flour, proximate analysis, functional properties, Ghana.