Leavening capacity, physicochemical and textural properties of wheat dough enriched with non-commercial unripe banana flours

Banana is a highly nutrient-dense, widely produced and consumed tropical fruit. Luvhele and mabonde non-commercial unripe banana cultivars were used to produce the flour and substituted the wheat flour at four levels (10%, 20%, 30% and 40%) for dough production. The water and oil holding capacity of the blended flour samples and the pH, titratable acidity, leavening capacity, proximate composition and texture of the dough were determined. Incorporation of Luvhele and Mabonde flour improved the blended flours' water and oil holding capacity. At 0 min and level 40%, the pH of the dough sample decreased from 5.79 (control) to 5.27 in both banana cultivars. The volume of the dough decreased from 195.00 mL (control) at 30 min to 128.33 mL (luvhele) and 125.00 mL (mabonde), respectively. The proximate composition of the blended dough increased in terms of ash, fiber, fat and carbohydrate. However, a decrease in protein and moisture contents at p < 0.05 was also observed. The hardness of the dough increased significantly with increased amounts of unripe banana flour substitutions. On the other hand, the control sample recorded a high cohesiveness (1.22). Doughs added with mabonde flour recorded high adhesion. The results of this work demonstrate that non-commercial unripe banana flour can be used as an alternative functional component for baked products with improved nutritional value.