Effects of Ripening Stages and Thermal Treatment on Quality Characteristics of the Overripe Plantain Puree

This study sought to determine the influence of ripening stages and thermal treatment on the quality characteristics of the overripe plantain puree. The plantain was stored during ripening stages (7, 8, 9, and 10) to obtain the overripe plantain; steam without peel and steamed with the peel to develop puree. Microbial count, physicochemical properties, and sensory evaluation of developed purees were evaluated. The results showed that puree from overripe plantain at ripening stage 8 had good physicochemical properties coupled with a low microbial growth count. The pH; 4.75 +/- 0.03; Aw: 0.85 +/- 0.00; TTA:0.44 +/- 0.02; Total ash: 0.65 +/- 0.03; Total sugars 19.93 +/- 0.00; Non Reducing Sugars: 15.29 +/- 0.00; Reducing sugars 4.64 +/- 0.00: Total Starch 4.12 +/- 1.07. The sensorial evaluation also demonstrated that puree prepared from overripe plantain at ripening stage 8 steamed with peel had a superior overall attribute with a mean score of 7.5. The results showed that using ripening stage 8 combined with steaming with peels recorded the least microbial count 2.4 log10 CFU/g). The instrumental colour evaluation revealed the puree from stage 8 had chroma intensity, and hue angle of 32.43 +/- 0.53; 35.97 +/- 0.36, and 81.90 +/- 0.20 respectively. The results showed that using ripening stage 8 combined with steaming with peel could be an acceptable procedure for the preparation of underutilized overripe plantain puree.