Lactose-free dulce de leche with different concentrations of green banana biomass

Abstract The production and consumption of dulce de leche is one of the most important sweets in the Mercosul Region. However, recent studies have shown consumers’ interest for healthier food and no lactose products, hence creating a demand for this study aims to develop a more nutritional lactose-free dulce de leche with less calories and higher yielding by adding green banana biomass. Five lactose-free dulce de leche formulas have been elaborated in which four were added 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% of green banana biomass and one of them received a standard 0.5% of commercial starch addition. The samples were evaluated regarding its microbiological, physicochemical and sensorial quality. The different lactose-free dulce de leche formulas attended the microbiological standards and demonstrated an increased yield of the green banana biomass concentration. The results indicated that the rise of the green banana biomass concentration has increased moisture and decreased protein, lipids and calories levels. In regards of acceptance, all samples evaluated received grades between 7.23 to 8.72, that is, above 6 which is the minimum value accepted to all the evaluated attributes hence demonstrating the acceptance on behalf of evaluators. All samples presented high ratios of intent to purchase therefore confirming the acceptance results found. It has been observed that the use of green banana biomass aggregated positive characteristics to the product and did not influence the sensorial quality of the sweets, seeing that all of them could improve their yield and thus demonstrating to be a good option to the development of healthier products.