ORIGINAL PAPER Foam-Mat Drying of Plantain and Cooking Banana (Musa spp.) Kolawole O. Falade & Joy O. Okocha Received: 23 December 2009 / Accepted: 29 March 2010 / Published online: 21 April 2010 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010 Abstract Foaming, reconstitution, and sensory attributes of foam-mat-dried plantain and cooking banana were investi- gated. Plantain and cooking banana pastes mixed with different concentrations (0.005%, 0.01%, 0.015%, and 0.02%) of glyceryl monostearate (GMS) were whipped, and the resulting foams were air dried at 60°C, 70°C, and 80°C. Physical, chemical, and sensory properties of fresh and reconstituted paste from plantain and cooking bananas were determined. Higher GMS concentration and longer whipping time resulted in lower foam densities. Generally, cooking banana foams showed lower foam density com- pared to plantain foam. Lower drying temperatures and concentration of GMS resulted in longer drying time. pH (4.41–4.80), titratable acidity (0.06–0.08), and water ab- sorption capacity (56.75–64.02%) of the reconstituted pastes varied with commodity, drying temperature, and % GMS concentration. Fresh and reconstituted pastes showed comparable physical and chemical attributes, while the taste and sensory attributes of fresh plantain and cooking banana pastes were significantly (p <0.05) better than those of reconstituted pastes. Keywords Foam-mat drying . Musa spp. . Sensory attributes . Reconstitution . Glyceryl monostearate Introduction Banana plants are important monocotyledonous perennial crops in the tropical and subtropical world regions (Strosse et al. 2006). They include dessert banana, plantain, and cooking bananas. Plantain and cooking bananas are very similar to unripe dessert bananas in exterior appearance, but plantain is often bigger and less sweet compared to cooking banana (Stover and Simmonds 1987; Robinson 1996; Happi Emaga et al. 2007). The climacteric nature, the high tendency to deteriorate in ambient storage conditions, and the inadequate preservation techniques adopted are the reasons for the great losses associated with the commodities (Brennan et al. 1990; Damirel and Turhan 2003). Plantains and cooking banana are rich in carbohydrates and minerals notably phosphorus, calcium, potassium, vitamin C, and significant amount of vitamin A (Ogazi 1996). Most fruits have high moisture content and are highly perishable, but when the moisture is removed, they can be preserved over a longer period of time with minimal deterioration (Kordylas 1990). Objectives of dehydration are to preserve the food, to reduce bulk and size of food for easy handling, transportation, storage, and distribution, and to serve as a convenience food. Air drying is the common drying methods employed for preservation of foodstuffs, offering dehydrated products that have extended shelf life. However, the quality of conventionally dried products is often lower compared to the original material, particularly the color, rehydration ratio, texture, and other characteristics (Ratti 2001). This could be due to the long exposure of food to heat during drying. Thus, the dehydration time needs to be minimized to avoid loss of nutritional and sensory qualities. Developed by Morgan et al. (1961), foam-mat drying is a process by which liquid foods are whipped into stable foams and dried. Recent application of the process to different commodities has been described (Falade et al. 2003; Sankat and Castaigne 2004; Ratti and Kudra 2005). In this process, foam stabilizers are added to the food concentrate or paste, and a mixer is used to whip the mixture, K. O. Falade (*) : J. O. Okocha Department of Food Technology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria e-mail: kolawolefalade@yahoo.com Food Bioprocess Technol (2012) 5:1173–1180 DOI 10.1007/s11947-010-0354-0