Development of Gluten-Free Bread Baked with Banana (Musa spp.) Flour

The purpose of this study was to create gluten-free bread for patients with celiac disease. In this experiment we looked for a viscous material as an alternative to gluten protein, and banana (Musa spp.) flour was selected. Gluten-free bread was baked with banana flour, starch, sugar (sucrose), compressed yeast, and water. Green (un-ripe, 0 day) and yellow (ripe, 5 days) banana flours did not exhibit good breadmaking properties (bread height (mm) and specific volume (cm(3)/g)). However, black (over-ripe, 44 days) banana flour showed good breadmaking properties. The suspension of black banana flour/water was dialyzed against a large amount of water, and was separated to nondialyzable (high-molecular-weight (HMW)) and dialyzable (low-molecular-weight (LMW)) fractions. The HMW or LMW fraction alone did not show good breadmaldng properties, but a mixture of them did. When black banana flour or the HMW/water was heated at 127 degrees C for 100 min in an autoclave, the enhancement effect of black banana flour or HMW/water with LMW fraction on breadmaking was lost, suggesting that the enzymes in black banana flour act as key materials. High amylase and protease activities in black banana flour could be ascertained by RVA (rapid visco analyzer) and mixograph tests, respectively.