Abstract
The banana is a climateric fruit and is one of the crops of more importance in several countries. It represents an alternative source of indigestible carbohydrates of resistant starch (RS) and dietary fiber (DF) mainly. RS and DF are of great interest because they are fermented in the large bowel producing short chain fatty acids (SCFA) which are related in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and colon cancer. In addition, the development and use of functional ingredients is widely exploited by the food industry and in this sense the indigestible carbohydrates can impart certain functionality and improve nutraceutical features in a variety of foods. Due to the significance of RS in human health, an alternative has been sought to produce or increase the RS level in banana starch, for this reason the enzymatic, physical (extrusion, autoclaved) and chemical (lintnerization, cross-linking) modification methods have been used to improve the resistance of banana starch to enzymatic hydrolysis by digestive enzymes and with these modifications to increase the nutraceutical features of banana starch when it is added as an ingredient in food products.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Polysaccharides |
| Subtitle of host publication | Development, Properties and Applications |
| Publisher | Nova Science Publishers, Inc. |
| Pages | 91-112 |
| Number of pages | 22 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781608765447 |
| State | Published - 2010 |