Ripe Banana Peel Flour: A Raw Material for the Food Industry

The aim of the work was to evaluate the potential of banana peel flour (Musa cavendishii) as a possible ingredient in the food industry. The material was obtained from the processing of the candy industry. It was evaluated as its centesimal composition, elemental, mineral and calorific value. Its content of bioactive compounds and antioxidant capacity was also determined. The results showed that the mineral composition of the flour had manganese (3.6 mg 100 g(-1)) and potassium (4720 mg 100 g(-1)) enough to meet the recommended daily intake for an adult. The flour was also distinguished by the content of carotenoids (3085 mu g 100 g(-1)) and phenolic compounds (145 mg 100 g(-1)), which contributed to its antioxidant capacity, since there was partial capture of the radicals by both iron reduction method (FRAP) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). Peel flour oil (13 % of composition) was composed mainly of palmitic (35 %), alpha-linolenic (25 %) and linoleic acids (22 %). Thus, it is found that banana peel flour is a product that offers several opportunities to the food industry, either by its use as an ingredient in new formulations or by the fractionation of the bioactive compounds by means of separation techniques.