Researchers find green banana flour offers gluten-free pasta solutions

Researchers find green banana flour offers gluten-free pasta solutions

Source: Food Navigator 25-06-2012

US 25-06-2012

 

Researchers discovered that flour milled from green bananas could help solve the issue of how to create cheap but good-tasting gluten-free pasta.

In the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, a team of Brazilian researchers revealed that a newly developed gluten-free pasta product made from green banana flour may offer a low cost, low fat solution for people who follow a gluten-free diet. According to the researchers, tasters found the new green banana pasta more acceptable than regular whole wheat pasta.

The researchers said that the green banana product had reduced the fat content and increased the protein value when compared to the whole-wheat pasta. The modified pasta decreased fat content by over 98%. The large reduction in fat is particularly important to patients with celiac disease, because many gluten-free products compensate for the removal of gluten with high levels of lipid content.

The team used 50 taste-testers who did not have celiac disease and 25 celiac disease patients to compare the pastas. In both groups, the modified pasta was better accepted than the standard in aroma, flavor, texture, and overall quality, indicating that the product can possibly be commercialized to a wider market than just those with celiac disease, the researchers noted.