Preliminary Quality Evaluation of Selected Plantain Flour (Musa Paradisiaca) Sold in Port Harcourt Markets, Nigeria

Abstract

Post harvest loss is a major problem limiting the production of plantain. In recent years, farmers and plantain processors have adopted processing of plantain into flours as a means of market diversification and consequently curtailing glut. This made different varieties of plantain flour with diverse nutritional composition to be sold in the markets. This preliminary study therefore aimed at evaluating the quality of selected plantain flour sold in Port Harcourt markets, Nigeria. In this study, selected physico-chemical analyses were evaluated. The moisture content, crude protein, starch, fat content and bulk density of the plantain flour samples used ranges between 7.20% - 13.92%, 4.75% - 9.84%, 60.41% - 67.85%, 0.84 % - 1.22% and 0.64g/ml – 0.73g/ml respectively. The samples were stored for four months. No insect infestation was observed during the storage period but mould growth was observed by the fourth month in all the samples except the reference sample.

Keywords: Plantain flour, quality evaluation, shelf life, nutritional composition