Does the degree of ripeness of bananas used to make banana

ice cream affect the overall preference of consumers?

OBJECTIVES

To determine, using a “just right” scale questionnaire, which version of banana ice cream consumers prefer, ice cream made with ripe or overripe bananas.

To determine if the degree of ripeness of bananas affects the flavor, color, sweetness and texture of the banana ice cream.

To determine if it is possible to make an acceptable, cost-effective banana ice cream by using left-over, overripe bananas.

HYPOTHESIS

RIPE bananas will create a thicker, tart ice cream due to the starch content.

Ice cream made with the OVERRIPE bananas will result in sweeter ice cream that will have a creamy texture and better banana flavor.

Consumers will therefore prefer the ice cream made with the overripe bananas

VARIABLE

RIPE OVERRIPE

PRODUCTS PREPARED

BANANA ICECREAM MADE

WITH RIPEBANANAS

BANANA ICECREAM MADE

WITH OVERRIPEBANANAS

CONTROL TEST PRODUCT

BACKGROUNDBANANA RIPENESS SCALE

Hard and Green 1

Light Green 2

More Green than Yellow 3

50% Green - 50% Yellow 4

5 6 7

BACKGROUND

ENZYMES

Enzymes are the major contributors to the ripening of fruit. Enzymes break complex molecules into smaller, simpler molecules.

Bananas are 25% starch and 1% sugar in the unripe stage, but 25% sugar and 1 % starch in the overripe stage.

BACKGROUNDFREEZING BANANAS

Once that a banana has reached the desired ripeness stage, it can be frozen to preserve that level of ripeness without damaging the nutrient level of the fruit.

Freezing converts water in cells into crystals which expand beyond the cell’s ability to contain them and they rupture. This has the effect of softening the pulp of the fruit thus making the fruit ideal for use in other recipes.

PROCEDURE

CONTROL

INGREDIENTS banana, ripe (stage 6)

lemon juice

light corn syrup

vanilla bean

heavy cream

TEST

INGREDIENTS banana, overripe (stage 7)

SAME

SAME

SAME

SAME

PROCEDURE

METHOD OF PREPARATION1. Freeze bananas overnight.2. Remove from freezer, thaw 45-60 minutes3. Peel, put in food processor with lemon juice.4. Process for 15 seconds.5. Add corn syrup and vanilla bean seeds - mix6. Slowly pour in the heavy cream and process until smooth.7. Chill mixture in fridge until it reaches 40° F.8. Transfer mixture to an ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer’s specs.9. Place mixture in an airtight container and freeze for 3-6 hours before serving.

CONSUMER SURVEY

CAFE Commons

31 Students & Faculty were tested

2 Banana Ice Cream Samplesone made from RIPE bananas

one made from OVERRIPE bananas

Water to cleanse the palate between samples

Script to provide instruction to tasters

“Just Right” Survey Forms

“JUST RIGHT” SURVEYSURVEY ASKED THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS

REGARDING EACH SAMPLE

1. How would you describe the banana flavor of the ____________? too little just about too muchbanana flavor right banana flavor

2. How would you describe the color of the ___________________? much just about muchtoo brown right too yellow

3. How would you describe the sweetness of the _______________? much just about muchtoo tart right too sweet

4. How would you describe the texture of the __________________? much just about muchtoo light and airy right too heavy and rich

PREFERENCE QUESTION

Of the two samples,

which do you prefer,

and why?

EXPERIMENTAL ERROR #1

Question re TEXTURE may have been worded improperly. This might have prevented consumers from answering the survey accurately.OUR VERSION:4. How would you describe the texture of the_____________? much just about muchtoo light and airy right too heavy and rich

SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENT:4. How would you describe the texture of the ____________? much just about muchtoo grainy right too smooth

EXPERIMENTAL ERROR #2

We used RIPE bananas (stage 6 – completely yellow,

no green tips or brown flecks) for the Control.But, the ice cream had a very starchy texture and tart banana flavor of a banana that was not ripe (such as stage 5 – yellow with green tips). This affected the acceptability of the ice cream made with ripe bananas.

RESULTS TABLE

Banana Flavor, Sweetness and Texture were superior in the ice cream made with overripe bananas.The color of the ice cream made with ripe bananas was rated as superior to the color of the other.

BANANA FLAVOR

Graph 1 - Banana Flavor

QUESTION: How would you describethe banana flavor of the ice cream?

Just Right Consumer Survey - 31 Participants

13

7 7

310

4

15

75

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Much Too Unripe Somewhat Too Unripe

Just right Somewhat Too Ripe

Much Too Ripe

Num

ber

of T

aste

rs

Ice Cream with Ripe Bananas

Ice Cream withOver Ripe Bananas

COLORGraph 2 - Color

QUESTION: How would you describethe color of the ice cream?

Just Right Consumer Survey - 31 Participants

0 1

20

7

35

8

16

20

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Much Too Brown Somewhat Too Brown

Just right Somewhat Too Yellow

Much Too Yellow

Num

ber

of T

aste

rs

Ice Cream with Ripe Bananas

Ice Cream with Over Ripe Bananas

SWEETNESSGraph 3 - Sweetness

QUESTION: How would you describe the sweetness of the ice cream?

Just Right Survey - 31 Participants

6

1213

0 00

2

20

7

2

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Much Too Tart Somewhat Too Tart

Just Right Somewhat Too Sweet

Much Too Sweet

Nu

mb

er

of

Tas

ters

Ice Cream with Ripe Bananas

Ice Cream withOver Ripe Bananas

TEXTURE

Graph 4 - TextureQUESTION: How would you describe the texture of the ice cream? Just

Right Survey - 31 Participants

1

6

16

2

6

10

22

7

1

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Much Too Light and Airy

Somewhat Too Light and Airy

Just right Somewhat Too Heavy & Rich

Much Too Heavy & Rich

Nu

mb

er

of

Ta

ste

rs

Ice Cream with Ripe Bananas

Ice Cream withOver Ripe Bananas

CONCLUSION #1Results Table and

Consumer Survey

indicate that ice

cream made with

overripe bananas is

tastier, sweeter and

has a better mouth

feel than ice cream

made with ripe

bananas.

CONCLUSION #2

The consumer survey nevertheless shows a very clear overall preference for the ice cream made with overripe bananas.

Ice cream made with ripe bananas is more yellow and therefore closer to what consumers expect banana ice cream to look like.

CONCLUSION #3

Chefs must be aware of the effects of enzymatic action on foods and what food characteristics will be affected by those actions.

Chefs must use enzymatic action to their advantage as much as possible.

In the narrow sense of this experiment, banana ice cream will be better if it is made from bananas that are overripe.

CONCLUSION #4

FUTURE EXPERIMENTATION

Since all fruit becomes sweeter as it

ripens, the question arises whether the

best fruit flavor will always come from

overripe fruit or might the tart juices of

some fruits actually produce greater

fruit flavor.

WORKS CITEDIMAGESBunch of Bananas - Stage 6 - AREA ROSSA - ITALY <http://www.albanesi.it/Alimentazione/cibi/banana.jpg> <http://www.albanesi.it/Arearossa/progetto.htm>. Accessed 05-May-2 2005

Banana Sundae (Stage 5). <http://www.creativestoke.org.uk/banana.gif> D'Log. Accessed: 05-May-2005

Banana Papers. <http://www.justpaper.com/gifs/gifs-bananapapers/ bananapaper-pic4.jpg>. Justpaper!Com - Banana Paper. Accessed: 05-May-2005

Overripe banana. <http://yaxu.org/archive/food/hellobanana.JPG>. Webssite: http://yaxu.org/words/. Accessed: 05-May-2005

Bowl of Ice Cream drawing. <http://papawspoems.homestead.com/ files/bowl_of_ice_cream.gif> Website: Home-made Ice Cream © By Grady L. Duncan 12/11/01. Accessed: 05-May-2005.

5 6 7