Banana flour facts for kids

Banana flour is a special powder made from green, unripe bananas. For a long time, people in Africa and Jamaica used it as a cheaper choice instead of regular wheat flour. Today, many people use banana flour because it is naturally gluten-free. This means it's great for those who can't eat gluten, like people with celiac disease. It's also popular because it contains something called resistant starch. This type of starch is good for your digestion.

When you use green bananas, the flour doesn't taste much like bananas when it's raw. After you cook with it, it has a mild, earthy taste. It feels similar to lighter wheat flours. You usually need about 25% less banana flour than wheat flour in recipes. This makes it a good substitute for white or whole-wheat flour.

How Banana Flour is Made

Banana flour is usually made from green, unripe bananas. First, the bananas are peeled and chopped into smaller pieces. Then, they are dried. This drying can be done in different ways. Traditionally, people would dry them in the sun. They can also be dried in an oven or a special food dryer. After the bananas are dry, they are ground into a fine powder. This can be done using a mortar and pestle or a machine.

It takes a lot of green bananas to make banana flour. About 8 to 10 kilograms (about 18 to 22 pounds) of fresh green bananas are needed to make just 1 kilogram (about 2.2 pounds) of banana flour. In recent years, big factories in Africa and South America have started making banana flour using these same basic steps.

Some researchers in Chile are trying a different way to make banana flour. They are using ripe banana peels, which are usually thrown away. They add these peels to ripe banana fruit. This adds healthy fiber to the flour. However, flour made from ripe bananas does not have the same resistant starch as flour made from green bananas. There is also something called banana powder, which is made from dried, ripe banana puree. This powder doesn't have the fiber from peels or the resistant starch from green bananas.

What Banana Flour is Used For

Past Uses

Long ago, banana flour was made in parts of Africa and Jamaica. It was a good alternative when wheat flour was expensive. Around the year 1900, a brand called Musarina sold banana flour in Central America. They said it was good for people with stomach problems. During World War I, the United States Department of Agriculture even thought about making banana flour to replace wheat and rye flours.

A Gluten-Free Choice

Today, companies in America and Australia sell banana flour. They market it as a great gluten-free option. This is perfect for people with celiac disease or anyone who wants to avoid gluten. Banana flour is also used to make foods thicker or as a natural source of resistant starch. Because it has a lot of starch, banana flour works very well in cooking and baking. It can easily replace wheat and other flours. Even when added to cooked foods like pasta, banana flour can increase the amount of healthy resistant starch.

Resistant Starch Benefits

Green banana flour has become popular with health researchers and people on special diets. This is because it is a great source of resistant starch. Resistant starch is a type of starch that your small intestine doesn't digest. Instead, it travels to your large intestine. There, it acts like a healthy fiber, which is good for your gut.

The amount of resistant starch in banana flour can vary a lot. It depends on how the bananas were dried. Some banana flour can have a lot of resistant starch (over 60%). Other types might have very little (less than 10%). People often use banana flour raw, like in smoothies or energy bars. This is because cooking can sometimes reduce the amount of resistant starch.

Other Uses

Banana flour is also used as animal feed in different parts of the world. For example, it's an ingredient in milk replacers for young calves. Some companies also sell banana flour globally for use in livestock feed. It helps to bind ingredients together. It's even used in making glue, especially for plywood.

Where to Find Banana Flour

Historically, banana flour has been available in Africa and South America. It was made both by traditional methods and in factories. Now, companies like International Agriculture Group (from the United States) and Natural Evolution (from Australia) have introduced it as a commercial ingredient around the world.

Good for the Environment and Economy

Making banana flour can help solve a big problem: wasted bananas. Many green bananas are thrown away because they are not perfect enough to sell or export. However, these "culled" green bananas are still good for making flour. If they were used for this purpose, it would greatly reduce waste in banana farming.

This means banana farmers could earn more money from their crops. It would also lessen the environmental impact of growing bananas. Plus, it would increase the world's food supply by using something that was once wasted. Officials in Chile have even started making flour from overripe banana peels and fruit. This helps reduce waste from bananas that are unsold or become too ripe. Up to 20% of bananas brought to market can be wasted this way. So, banana flour can help reduce waste at both the beginning and end of banana production.

Fair Practices in Production

For a long time, growing bananas has sometimes been linked to unfair treatment of workers in poorer countries. Making banana flour is connected to these concerns. Some people wonder if the bananas used for flour are sourced fairly. However, many big banana companies have recently agreed to fair trade practices. These practices help ensure that workers are treated well and paid fairly.

See also

In Spanish: Harina de banana para niños