Abstract
Saba banana [Musa ‘saba’(Musa acuminata x Musa balbisiana)] is the most popular among the
many banana cultivars in the Philippines in terms of production and trade because of its wide
range of applications in the local food industry. It is one of the important food sources not only
as a raw material for essentially starch-based products but also as an alternative food staple to
rice in rural areas. The study involving simulated in vitro gastrointestinal digestion model was
conducted to evaluate the effect of maturity on the digestibility of starch in Saba banana. The
stage of ripeness of the pulp was determined using peel color (L*, Chroma, and hue) index,
which was divided into 5 stages, 1, all green; 2, green but turning yellow; 3, greenish yellow;
4, yellow with green tips; and 5, yellow with brown flecks. Changes in the physicochemical
properties such as moisture, resistant starch, total starch, and sugar (sucrose, glucose, and
fructose) contents were also examined at different stages. During the ripening process, a
decrease in the total starch was observed. More than 80% of resistant starch was degraded
from stage 1 to stage 5 with a concomitant formation of sugars. This breakdown of starch
preceded the increase in moisture content due to osmotic transfer. Among the stages, the
highest starch hydrolysis (%) was determined in stage 1 after 4 hours of simulated intestinal
digestion. Results showed that the variations on the physicochemical properties of different
maturity stages may account for the decreasing rate of starch hydrolysis. These findings
suggested that the maturity stages of Saba banana may influence the rate at which starch is
digested due to the physicochemical changes accompanying maturation.
