Development of food products from banana for vegetarian food business

Abstract

This research aims to 1) develop pork roll product from cultivated banana flesh and banana flour for vegetarian food business; 2) develop suitable and unique packaging for food product using cultivated banana flesh and banana flour instead of meat; and 3) transfer technology in developing food product using cultivated banana flesh and banana flour instead of meat for vegetarian food business. Regarding suitable amount of banana flour used in place of isolated soy protein in pre-emulsion preparation, from 4 levels of banana flour used at 0, 10, 15, and 20 percent, it was found that increasing amount of banana flour used in place of isolated soy protein caused significant increase of L* value in the product (p<0.05). Moreover, hardness and flexibility in texture profile of the product were not significantly different from the control product (p>0.05). In terms of sensory evaluation, tasters gave the highest score for meat-emulated reducedemulsion product that used banana flour in place of isolated soy protein at 15 percent. For packaging of pork roll product, it was found that Model-A package was the most suitable, with recommendations to add tight-closed material to prevent contamination from outside and to print expiry date as well as food safety certified sign. Furthermore, consumers’ overall satisfactory in packaging model was found to be highest at the mean of 4.31. Finally, transferring of technology in a form of training workshop in developing food product from banana flour for vegetarian food business for Ban Lak Khon Bakery Housewife Community Enterprise and entrepreneurs in Nonthaburi province showed that post-training test scores were significantly higher than pre-training scores at .05 level. This indicated that technological transfer in a form of real-practice workshop provided increasing knowledge in developing food product from banana flour for vegetarian food business. Moreover, it was also found that trainees were highly satisfied in both overall service (mean of 4.85) and by-aspect: servicing staff (4.93), procedure/steps (4.87), trainers (4.83), and usefulness of service (4.75), respectively.