ABSTRACT

 This study was carried out with the aim of partially replacing wheat flour with cooking banana flour, using cooking banana of two varieties, cardaba and bluggoe at unripe maturity stages. The flour samples produced were analyzed for their proximate compositions and functional properties. The result of the proximate analysis of the cooking banana flours showed that the moisture content ranged from 10.00% to 10.34%; ash content ranged from 3.88% to 4.62%, fat content from 0.78% to 0.84%: while protein content ranged from 4.49% to 4.79% and crude fibre ranged from 0.7 1% to 0.85% with carbohydrate ranging from 78.86% to 79.88%. In the functional properties analysed, it was found that foam stability ranged from 6.08% to 7.43%. while the foam capacity ranged from 12.97% to 13.79%, gelation capacity ranged from 0.53% to 0.75%, while the bulk density ranged from 1.89% to 1.93%, oil absorption capacity ranged from 2.34% to 2.79%, emulsion capacity ranged from 20.3 0% to 21.46%, wettability ranged from 59.67seconds to 60.67seconds.Sensory evaluation was carried out on the baked samples (cakes and cookies) to determine the preference in colour, aroma, taste, texture and general acceptability. Sensory panel rating for the cookies of 5% cooking banana: 95% wheat flours and 10%cooking banana: 90%wheat flours were high at these levels of substitution while for cakes the sensory panel rating was high at 1 0%cooking banana: 90% wheat flour levels of substitution.