Bread from Composite Plantain-Wheat Flour: I. Effect of Plantain Fruit Maturity and Flour Mixture on Dough Rheology and Fresh Loaf Qualities

Abstract

The effects of plantain fruit maturity (7–10 weeks after full finger development) on the dough rheology, physical and sensory properties of wheat-plantain composite bread were studied after diluting wheat flour with plantain flour (PF) up to 20% (w/w). The rheological (Brabender Farinograph and Chopin Alveograph) properties of the composite flour dough as well as the physical characteristics (loaf weight, volume, specific volume, crumb softness index, crust and crumb color) and sensory quality of the bread samples were determined. The dough stability was reduced while the mixing tolerance and dough softness increased significantly with increased PF content (P < 0.05). The size and softness of the composite bread loaves were not significantly different from that of all wheat bread. Bread crumb became darker while the crust lightness increased with PF content up to the eighth week of plantain maturity. However, plantain maturity had no significant effect on the sensory acceptability of bread loaf from composite flour. Practical Applications Consumption of unripe plantain and its products is encouraged due to some beneficial health effects such as medium glycemic index and rich content of certain micronutrients. This paper opens up some commercial potential and technical challenges of using unripe PF for bread baking purposes. The results obtained have shown that with some additional research and development efforts, commercial use of unripe PF in white bread baking could be possible.