Green Banana Flour NZ

Green banana flour is made from unripe green bananas that are dried and finely milled into a versatile flour.

What makes it particularly interesting is resistant starch.

As bananas ripen, much of their starch is converted into sugars. By using the banana while it is still green, more of this naturally occurring starch is retained – including resistant starch, which behaves differently from ordinary digestible starch.

Instead of being completely broken down in the small intestine, resistant starch can pass through to the large intestine where it can be fermented by gut bacteria.

It has a mild, neutral flavour rather than the sweet banana flavour you might expect, making it an easy addition to smoothies, baking and everyday recipes.

What Is Resistant Starch?

Resistant starch gets its name because it resists digestion in the small intestine.

Ordinary starch is broken down into glucose during digestion. Resistant starch behaves more like dietary fibre: some of it reaches the large intestine without first being digested and can then be fermented by intestinal bacteria.

Green bananas are one of the best-known natural food sources of this type of starch.

Research examining green banana flour has reported substantial resistant starch content, although the amount varies considerably according to banana variety, ripeness and processing method.

This is also why green banana flour is quite different nutritionally from simply eating a ripe banana.

Why Green Bananas?

The stage at which a banana is harvested makes an enormous difference to its carbohydrate composition.

A green banana contains considerably more starch. During ripening, enzymes gradually break much of that starch down into simple sugars, producing the sweeter flavour and softer texture of a yellow banana.

Green banana flour essentially captures the banana at the starch-rich, low-sugar stage of ripening.

Our Green Banana Flour contains:

• 12.5% dietary fibre
• Less than 1g sugar per serving
• Naturally occurring resistant starch
• 600mg potassium per serving
• Magnesium, manganese and other naturally occurring minerals
• Just one ingredient: green banana flour

Green Banana Flour & The Gut

One of the main reasons green banana flour has attracted scientific interest is what happens to its resistant starch during digestion.

Because resistant starch is not completely digested in the small intestine, some reaches the colon where it becomes available for fermentation by intestinal bacteria.

This fermentation of resistant starch is one of the reasons it is often discussed alongside prebiotic fibres.

In a human digestion study using green banana flour, researchers found that a large proportion of the starch being studied reached the terminal ileum before being almost completely fermented in the colon.

Green banana flour therefore provides a very different type of carbohydrate to ordinary refined flour.

Good Source Of Dietary Fibre

Green banana flour isn't just interesting because of resistant starch.

A 20g serving of our Green Banana Flour provides 2.5g of dietary fibre, making it a source of fibre.

Dietary fibre is the portion of plant foods that isn't completely broken down by our digestive enzymes. Different types of fibre behave differently in the digestive system, which is why eating a variety of fibre-containing plant foods is generally recommended.

Green banana flour provides an easy way to add more plant-based fibre to foods you may already eat.

Does Green Banana Flour Taste Like Banana?

Surprisingly, not really.

Because it is produced from unripe bananas, it doesn't have the strong sweetness or characteristic flavour of a ripe yellow banana.

It has a relatively mild, slightly earthy flavour which disappears easily into smoothies and works particularly well in baking.

That makes it useful even if you're not particularly interested in eating something that tastes like bananas.

How To Use Green Banana Flour

Green banana flour is extremely versatile.

Add approximately 20g (2 tablespoons) to smoothies, yoghurt, oats or baking.

Try adding it to:

• Smoothies and shakes
• Pancakes
• Muffins
• Banana bread
• Cakes and brownies
• Porridge or overnight oats
• Homemade bread
• Bliss balls
• Sauces and soups as a thickener

For smoothies, start with around 1–2 tablespoons and adjust according to preference.

When baking, green banana flour absorbs water differently from wheat flour, so replacing all of the flour in an existing recipe may require adjustment. It can also be combined with other flours rather than used as a complete replacement.

Green Banana Flour For Baking

Green banana flour can be used as an alternative flour in a wide range of recipes.

Because it has a relatively neutral flavour, it can be incorporated into both sweet and savoury foods without making everything taste like banana.

It also gives baking an easy nutritional upgrade by adding fibre and naturally occurring resistant starch.

For the easiest introduction, try replacing a portion of the flour in a recipe with green banana flour before experimenting with larger quantities.

A Simple Whole-Food Ingredient

There is nothing complicated about this product.

Ingredients: Green Banana Flour.

The bananas are harvested while green, dried and ground into flour.

That's it.

For anyone looking to increase the variety of plant foods and fibres in their diet, green banana flour is an inexpensive and extremely easy ingredient to keep in the pantry.

This product is sourced from Australia or Sri Lanka depending on availability.

Research

Green Banana Consumption – Systematic Review

A systematic review examined 18 studies involving green banana flour or green banana pulp/biomass. The researchers found considerable scientific interest in the gastrointestinal and metabolic effects of green banana products, while also noting that resistant starch levels and study results can vary according to the banana variety, maturity and processing method.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31146437/

Digestion Of Green Banana Starch In Humans

Researchers studied digestion of freeze-dried green banana flour in healthy human subjects. A substantial proportion of the starch investigated reached the terminal ileum rather than being digested earlier in the gastrointestinal tract and was subsequently fermented in the colon.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7857906/

Nutritional Composition Of Unripe Banana Flour

Researchers analysing unripe banana flour found substantial dietary fibre and resistant starch in the flour studied. The research demonstrates why the ripeness and processing of bananas have such an important influence on their starch composition.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21732181/

Green Banana Resistant Starch Review

A 2024 scientific review examined green banana resistant starch, its properties, digestion and its potential as a functional food ingredient.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38873476/

Green Banana Flour Composition & Resistant Starch

Research comparing green banana flour varieties examined their nutritional composition, resistant starch, structure and functional properties, demonstrating the considerable variation that can occur between different banana cultivars.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34945445/

Recipes

Please note that this product is processed in a facility that also handles milk, egg, soy, peanut, and gluten ingredients.

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