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
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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.
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