Banana pasta facts for kids

Banana pasta is a special kind of pasta made mostly from bananas! It's usually made from green, unripe bananas. These bananas are dried and then ground into a fine powder called banana flour.

One of the coolest things about banana pasta is that it's a gluten-free food. This means people who can't eat gluten, like those with celiac disease, can enjoy it! You can cook banana pasta right away or dry it to save for later. It cooks just like regular pasta, usually by boiling it. Scientists have found that banana pasta soaks up more water than regular pasta, which means you get more food after cooking!

Discovering Banana Pasta

A New Idea for Pasta

In 2012, some smart food scientists at the University of Brasília in Brazil started looking into making pasta from green bananas. They wanted to see if it could be a good option for people who need to avoid gluten. They published their findings in a science journal.

Taste Tests and Results

The researchers did a taste test with 75 people. Some had celiac disease (meaning they can't eat gluten), and others didn't. Both groups tried the banana pasta. They also tried other gluten-free pastas made from things like brown rice or quinoa. The group without celiac disease also tried regular wheat pasta for comparison.

Guess what? Both groups really liked the taste of banana pasta! People with celiac disease especially preferred it over other gluten-free options. Even the group without celiac disease thought the banana pasta tasted, smelled, and looked just as good as regular whole wheat pasta. They even liked the texture of the banana pasta better!

Why Banana Pasta is Great

The study also showed that banana pasta has some awesome benefits:

• It has more protein than whole wheat pasta.
• It's lower in fat and calories.
• It's cheaper to make!
• It might even help with digestion and keep blood sugar levels steady because it has a lot of resistant starch.

This new pasta also helps use up green bananas, which don't have many other uses and aren't worth much money. So, it's good for both people and the planet!

Making Banana Pasta for Everyone

From Idea to Product

In 2017, an amazing entrepreneur named Tonya Ifill from Barbados started making banana pasta for sale. She used green bananas, just like the scientists did.

One of the biggest challenges she faced was figuring out the perfect amount of water to add to the banana flour. The temperature of the water was super important too! If the water was too hot, the pasta would just crumble apart. But she worked hard and made it happen!