Banana (Musa Acuminata X Balbisiana) Pseudo Stem Flour as an Alternative in Pasta Making

This study aims to identify more sustainable sources of accessible flour for pasta manufacture, given the Philippines' reliance on wheat imports. Additionally, the project aims to reduce agricultural waste from banana fields during harvest. The study explored to find out the possible strategy for the development of banana (Musa acuminata x balbisiana) pseudo-stem flour as an alternative flour to pasta making. Therefore, the study includes three parts, with the first drying of the banana pseudo stem flour using a dehydrator and grinding it, the second making of pasta and cooking into different pasta recipes, third using a survey method to determine the acceptability of the developed pasta used in two pasta recipes: tuna carbonara and Filipino style spaghetti. The respondents described the banana pseudo stem flour pasta used in tuna carbonara as highly acceptable with an overall mean of 4.65 and 4.54 for taste and aroma while in terms of texture (4.13), color (4.02), and appearance (4.17) were moderately acceptable. Additionally, the taste (4.67) and aroma (4.64) of the banana pseudo stem flour pasta used in Filipino-style spaghetti are highly accepted by the respondents while in terms of texture (4.17), color (4.04) and appearance (4.18) were moderately acceptable. According to the data, banana pseudo-stem flour has the potential to be a widely used component in pasta recipes and across a variety of demographics, with adults, teenagers, and food experts endorsing it very strongly. The shelf life of banana pseudo stem flour pasta is 2 days while the flour is until 45-60 days. The banana pseudo stem flour pasta contains ash 0.70%w/w, carbohydrate, 23.53%w/w, crude fat 0.76 %w/w, crude protein 3.95%w/w, moisture 71.74%w/w, and energy 119 kcal.