Characterization of starch from Ambon banana peel (Musa acuminata AAA) as a prebioticsource

Ambon banana (Musa acuminata AAA) is the mostly consumed banana variety in Indonesia. People only consume the fruit flesh while the peel become waste. Banana peel is a potential prebiotic source because it contains prebiotic polysaccharides like starch. Utilization of banana peel for starch production can reduce waste and increases the economic value of banana. Starch is a common pharmaceutical excipient. Starch can be used as a pharmaceutical excipient when its physicochemical character meets the criteria. Hence, this study aims to pruduce starch from Ambon banana peel and to characterize the starch including water content, ash content, swelling power, solubility, amylose and amylopectin content of starch. The result showed that the yield of starch from fresh Ambon banana peel was 0.67%. The water content of the starch was 18.20%, the ash content was 9.61%, the swelling power was 7.92%, the solubility was 12.04%, the amylose content 82.84%, and the amylopectin content was 17.16%.