Acceso usuarios
The inflorescence of a banana plant, popularly known as the banana heart, has been historically underutilized. Composed of bracts and flowers, often discarded during fruit harvesting, they are gaining prominence in Brazilian cuisine. This study aims to enhance knowledge about the consumption of banana heart by analyzing the nutritional composition of flowers and bracts. This is done by determining the levels of Fe, Mg, Mn, Ca, Na, K, Zn, and Cu, as well as the concentration of total phenolic compounds. The bracts and flowers underwent a homemade microwave drying process, followed by grinding and acid digestion. The concentrations of the determined elements in the bracts and flowers were as follows: K, 46.10 to 47.74 mg/g; Mg, 4.48 to 4.99 mg/g; Ca, 2.75 to 3.47 mg/g; Mn, 0.04 to 0.06 mg/g; Na, 0.04 to 0.05 mg/g; and Fe, 0.01 mg/g. Regarding total phenolic compounds, the analysis was performed on both dried and fresh samples. The results indicated a higher concentration of phenolic compounds in the dried samples. For fresh bract samples, 3.23 ± 0.53 mg GAE/g was obtained, while for dried bracts, it was 122.64 ± 61.64 mg GAE/g. For fresh flower samples, the value was 4.51 ± 2.16 mg GAE/g, and for dried flowers, it was 154.82 ± 23 mg GAE/g.
A inflorescência de bananeira conhecida popularmente como coração da bananeira, tem sido historicamente subutilizada, composta por brácteas e flores, muitas vezes descartadas durante a colheita dos frutos, ganham destaque na alimentação brasileira. O presente estudo visa enriquecer o conhecimento sobre o consumo do coração da bananeira, analisando a composição nutricional das flores e brácteas por meio da determinação dos teores de Fe, Mg, Mn, Ca, Na, K, Zn e Cu bem como a da concentração dos compostos fenólicos totais. As brácteas e flores foram submetidas a um processo de secagem em micro-ondas caseiro, seguido de trituração e digestão ácida. As concentrações dos elementos determinados nas brácteas e nas flores foram de: K, 46,10 a 47,74 mg/g; Mg, 4,48 a 4,99 mg/g; Ca, 2,75 a 3,47 mg/g; Mn, 0,04 a 0,06 mg/g; Na, 0,04 a 0,05 mg/g; e Fe, 0,01 mg/g. Quanto aos compostos fenólicos totais, a análise foi realizada em amostras secas e in natura. Os resultados indicaram uma maior concentração de compostos fenólicos nas amostras secas. Para as amostras das brácteas in natura obteve-se 3,23 ± 0,53 mg EAG/g, para as brácteas secas 122,64 ± 61,64 mg EAG/g, para as flores in natura 4,51 ± 2,16 mg EAG/g e por fim para as flores secas 154,82 ± 23 mg EAG/g.
