Effects of storage on keeping quality and nutrient retention of plantain (<i>Musa paradisiacal</i>) flour

Abstract

Background: Plantain is one of the most important staples and cash crops of the tropical regions like Nigeria and West Africa. In Nigeria, unripe plantain is sliced, sundried, stored as a means of preservation, and later sold and milled into flour.

Objective: This study investigated the effect of storage on keeping quality and nutrient retention of plantain flour over a period of three months.

Methods: Fresh Musa paradisiaca fruit was purchased, peeled and processed at plantain farming community of Oba Ayetoro village, Ekiti state, peeled and divided into three portions. The first portion was oven-dried (Sample1), the second portion was sun-dried by the roadside and kept with plantain flour producers/sellers (Sample2), while the third portion (Sample3) was open air-dried at Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti. All samples were stored in cool, dry place for three months. Proximate, mineral and vitamin composition of freshly prepared, and stored samples were determined using standard methods of AOAC and spectrophotometric methods.

Results: A 100g of each sample contained between 13.5 - 13.9g, moisture, 2.3 - 2.8g crude protein, 0.3- 0.4g crude fat, 2.3- 2.8g ash, 3.6 - 4.2g dietary fibre and 75.5 - 77.6g carbohydrate and 789.31 – 801.19µg β-carotene. Storage for three months significantly (p < 0.05), improved ash, crude protein, dietary fibre, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, β-Carotene content of the flours with significant (p < 0.05) reduction in sodium and potassium content. The flours were very low in anti-nutritional factors.

Conclusion: Plantain flour is rich in carbohydrates, dietary fibre, macro minerals and β-Carotene and very low in antinutrients. Storage for three months improved the nutrients of the flours produced and reduced the level of antinutrients, hence its consumption after storage over a period should be encouraged.

Key words: Plantain flours, storage time, keeping quality, nutrients, antinutrients