Diversification of Cultivars and Production of Male Inflorescence Flours for More Sustainable Banana Cultivation

Lucas Felipe dos Ouros, Magali Leonel (), Sarita Leonel, Nicholas Zanette Molha, Paulo Ricardo Rodrigues de Jesus, Hebert Teixeira Cândido, Marco Antonio Tecchio, Mayra Schmidt Rechsteiner and Caio César dos Ouros
Additional contact information
Lucas Felipe dos Ouros: São Paulo State University (UNESP), Center for Tropical Roots and Starches (CERAT), Campus Botucatu, Botucatu 18610-034, SP, Brazil
Magali Leonel: São Paulo State University (UNESP), Center for Tropical Roots and Starches (CERAT), Campus Botucatu, Botucatu 18610-034, SP, Brazil
Sarita Leonel: São Paulo State University (UNESP), Center for Tropical Roots and Starches (CERAT), Campus Botucatu, Botucatu 18610-034, SP, Brazil
Nicholas Zanette Molha: São Paulo State University (UNESP), Center for Tropical Roots and Starches (CERAT), Campus Botucatu, Botucatu 18610-034, SP, Brazil
Paulo Ricardo Rodrigues de Jesus: São Paulo State University (UNESP), School of Agriculture (FCA), Campus Botucatu, Botucatu 18610-034, SP, Brazil
Hebert Teixeira Cândido: Technical Assistance and Rural Extension (INCAPER), Capixaba Institute for Research, Atílio Vivácqua 29490-000, ES, Brazil
Marco Antonio Tecchio: São Paulo State University (UNESP), School of Agriculture (FCA), Campus Botucatu, Botucatu 18610-034, SP, Brazil
Mayra Schmidt Rechsteiner: São Paulo State University (UNESP), Center for Tropical Roots and Starches (CERAT), Campus Botucatu, Botucatu 18610-034, SP, Brazil
Caio César dos Ouros: Federal University of Grande Dourados, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Dourados 79804-970, MS, Brazil

Agriculture, 2025, vol. 15, issue 10, 1-20

Abstract: Banana inflorescences are usually discarded, but there has been interest in managing this by-product to turn it into a product with added value. Herein, the inflorescences of seven cultivars were processed into flour and evaluated for their physicochemical characteristics. The weight of the inflorescences ranged from 681.3 to 1245.4 g, with bracts accounting for more than 40%. The Prata Anã cultivar had the largest inflorescence. The part of the inflorescence was the main factor differentiating the flours, with the effect of the cultivar dependent on the part processed. All flours had high levels of fiber (27.70–41.91 g/100 g) and carbohydrates (19.30–33.96 g/100 g). The palm flours were differentiated by their higher levels of protein (17.4–19.4 g/100 g), and the flower flours by their higher levels of lipids (5.89–7.97 g/100 g). The bract flours had a higher water holding capacity (5.62–6.78%) and browning index (40.7–42). The bract and flower flours were less dissimilar. Results revealed the high nutritional quality of the flours and the prospect of using them as a non-conventional food source. Understanding the differences between banana inflorescence flours expands their possible uses and promotes sustainable agricultural production in terms of efficient banana by-product management.

Keywords: Musa spp.; residue; bracts; flower; palm; nutritional composition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/10/1110/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/10/1110/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:15:y:2025:i:10:p:1110-:d:1661084

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().