Value Addition of Banana (Musa paradisiaca): Development and Storage Evaluation using Osmo Solar Dehydration Technique

Abstract

Osmo Solar Dehydration Technology is an emerging technology in the food processing sector. Banana is a good source of potassium, magnesium and soluble fibre pectin; it plays a vital role in maintaining normal blood pressure, healthy digestion and eases out constipation. Therefore in this study, Osmo-solar dehydration technology was used to develop a value added Banana product using fresh banana. With this objective, the study was conducted to develop Osmo-solar dried banana (Musa paradisiaca) figs, with 13 sunny hours of drying time with a yield of 18.8%, and 14.2% moisture content in the product. The banana figs were packed into two different packaging material viz., Aluminium and Polypropylene pouches. Physico-chemical characteristics and nutritional parameters along with microbiological quality and shelf life at ambient temperature were studied. The results showed that acidity in Osmo-solar dehydrated banana was high (0.91) than the fresh fruit (0.21) due the addition of citric acid to the osmotic solution, sugar content is also observed to be high (77.23) in Osmo solar when compared to fresh fruit (11.78) due to the overnight dip in osmotic solution. The results indicated that using Osmo-solar dehydration technique many of the nutrients (vitamin C, fiber and potassium) can be retained with less energy consumption. The sensory scores showed that the samples in aluminium pouch were superior in appearance and taste when compared to polypropylene pouch samples after 60 days of storage. Thus this product can be used as snack food. The value addition of Banana Figs was done by coating them with chocolate.