Resistant starch made from banana starch by autoclaving and debranching

Resistant starches (RS) were prepared from banana starch by debranching with pullulanase for different times and after autoclaving treatment. The different treatments produced seven RS products, which were tested with respect to avail able starch (AS), RS and in vitro hydrolysis rate. The control sample (without , branching) had the highest AS (80.5%) and the lowest RS content (9.1%). The samples debranched for 5 h and longer did not show significant differences (alpha = 0.05) in AS (approximately 72%) and RS (approximately 18%). The RS values obtained in the samples prepared were twice as high as that of the control sample. However, the sample debranched for the longest time had the highest hydrolysis rate, demonstrating that this product has a high digestion rate. Banana starch is a good source for RS preparation by autoclaving due to its high RS content and can be an alternative source in developing countries for obtaining a nutraceutic ingredient for functional food preparation.