Nutritious, affordable, and easy to eat, it’s no wonder 100 billion bananas are consumed around the world every year. Sadly, about one-third of this popular fruit crop must be composted or discarded due to it being the wrong shape, an unappealing size, or not ripe enough.
But humans, being ever inventive, have found a way to save these unripe, undesirable bananas by turning them into what’s known as green banana flour. Green bananas make good flour, since the unripe fruit is lower in sugar and not as hard to process as soft and squishy ripe bananas.
Most people have yet to learn about green banana flour. But in the Caribbean and Africa, where bananas are native, green banana flour often replaces the more expensive wheat flour.
Let’s discover more about this intriguing ingredient.
A Nutritious Prebiotic Flour
For most people, bananas are a non-allergenic food. This makes green banana flour a good choice for those with food sensitivities. Naturally gluten free, it’s also a healthy ingredient for those following vegan, paleo, wheat-free, and ketogenic eating plans.
Green banana flour offers magnesium, manganese, zinc, and phosphorus. Not typically found in food, the amino acid 5HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) is also in green banana flour. This nutrient can be helpful for depression, mood issues, anxiety, and headaches.
Green banana flour is perhaps best known for its high amounts of resistant starch. In fact, it has the highest amount of any food. This type of carbohydrate has health benefits including aiding digestion, assisting weight loss, and preventing disease.
Since resistant starches aren’t processed in the small intestines, green banana flour can be a valuable source for it. Resistant starches provide the body with energy and help feed the gut’s beneficial bacteria.
Unfortunately, the resistant starches found in green banana flour are lost when the flour is baked or cooked. So add green banana flour to smoothies or unbaked recipes like energy bites to preserve the ingredient’s nutritive value.
One drawback of green banana flour is that it may have a mild laxative effect for some individuals due to its fiber content.
Gut-friendly Baking and Cooking
Aside from blended beverages and healthy snacks, green banana flour finds its way into dishes both sweet and savory. Use it to thicken gravies, stews, and puddings. It also makes a healthy addition to hot cereals. If you love pancakes but hate going into a carb coma afterwards, give this healthy pancake alternative a try: Green Banana Flour Pancakes.
There can be a slight banana taste to the flour depending on how ripe the bananas were when processed. Typically green banana flour is mild, if a little earthy in flavor. If this is unappealing, consider adding strong spices like cinnamon or extra vanilla extract when baking or cooking with it.
Similar in texture to coconut flour or cassava flour, green banana flour has a long shelf life. It’s even been used as an ingredient in commercial bread to boost its nutritional profile and digestibility.
With its wheat-like texture, 3⁄4 cup of green banana flour replaces 1 cup of wheat flour in most recipes.
Find green banana flour in some health food stores and online. For a safer option, look for organic varieties to avoid pesticide residues.
