Extraction optimization and profile analysis of oligosaccharides in banana pulp and peel

This study evaluated the effect of ethanol concentration (EC, 0–70%) and temperature (25–75 °C) on the oligosaccharides extraction from ripe banana pulp, as well as the profile of mono-, di-, galacto-, fructo-, malto- and xylooligosaccharides in ripe banana pulp and peel. According to response surface plots, EC of 52% (vol/vol) and 75 °C provided the maximum oligosaccharides extraction from banana pulp. High-performance anion exchange chromatography coupled to pulsed amperometric detection showed the presence of glucose, fructose, sucrose, maltose, arabinose, 1-kestose, xylopentaose, and xylohexaose in banana pulp and glucose, fructose, sucrose, 1-kestose, maltotriose, xylopentaose, and xylohexaose in banana peel. Banana pulp and peel showed 6.47 and 1.42 mg/g dw of total oligosaccharides, respectively. The chromatographic analysis showed fructo- and xylooligosaccharides as the main banana oligosaccharides. Finally, banana can contribute to the intake of sugars and prebiotic oligosaccharides. Practical applications The extraction is the first step in the evaluation of the plant composition and several factors influence the recovery of the target compound. Oligosaccharides present a wide variety of applications in food science and industry and they are extensively studied in fruits metabolism. Methods with extraction conditions optimized and chromatography conditions well-defined are very important to obtain reliable results. Furthermore, banana is one of the most consumed and processed fruits around the world and, consequently, the extraction procedure and analytical technique showed in this study can be helpful for quality control of banana and their products.