The utilization of green banana (Musa Acuminata x Musa Balbisiana) flour in the development of keropok lekor / Siti Jaimiah Abdul Jalil and Nafisah Musa

Keropok lekor a fish-based sausage is a popular traditional snack that originated in Terengganu, a state in north-eastern Malaysia. Green banana flour was used to enhance the nutritional value of keropok lekor since it is high in dietary fibre, bioactive components, gluten-free, low glycaemic index, and numerous other nutrients that are advantageous to human diets. The primary goal of this study is to create an innovative version of keropok lekor produced using green banana flour and examine its physicochemical characteristics and to evaluate consumer acceptability. The process of making green banana keropok lekor was the same as for traditional keropok lekor, except that green banana flour is used in replacement of tapioca starch. Banana flour and tapioca starch were used in varieties of ratios (15:20, 17.50:1750, 35:0) to develop the banana keropok lekor. The boiled samples were analyzed for moisture, crude protein, crude fat, ash, carbohydrate, color (lightness, redness, and yellowness), and texture (hardness, cohesiveness, springiness, chewiness, gumminess, and resilience). Formulation 1 (15:20) was the most preferred among all the formulations, where the moisture (57.3%), crude protein (8.65%), crude fat (1.99%), ash (0.83%), and carbohydrate content (30.66%). Formulation 3 with the highest proportion of green banana flour demonstrated a high value of hardness, chewiness, and gumminess but showed the least value of cohesiveness, springiness, and resilience. The color of the banana keropok lekor showed a significantly different (p0.05) in lightness and yellowness values.