Green banana biomass: Physicochemical and functional properties and its potential as a fat replacer in a chicken mortadella

The potential of green banana biomass (GBB) as a natural ingredient and its impact as a fat replacer in chicken mortadella on sensory perception were investigated. The GBB was assessed for physicochemical characterization, antioxidant capacity and antimicrobial activity. Five chicken mortadella formulations were developed with fat replacement of 25, 50, 75 and 100% by GBB. Microbiological stability of the formulations was assessed, and the sensory profiling was evaluated by Preferred Attribute Elicitation (PAE). The dietary fiber, resistant starch, total phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity in GBB were 3.99%, 4.16%, 518.39 mg GAE/100 g (GAE: Gallic acid equivalent) of dry sample, 5307.62 μmol of trolox equivalent (TE)/100 g of dry sample and 3583.12 μmol of trolox equivalent (TE)/100 g of dry sample, respectively. GBB contained potassium (1121 mg/100 g), phosphorus (183.6 mg/100 g), magnesium (77.4 mg/100 g), copper (0.53 mg/100 g) and iron (7.21 mg/100 g). The microbial counts in the formulations after 90 days of chill storage were within the safe limit. The results concluded that GBB showed desirable functional and technological proprieties to be used in chicken mortadella without affecting the characteristic flavor of these products. Besides, PAE proved to be a potential method to characterize chicken mortadella.