Ever heard of green banana flour? Apparently it’s traditionally eaten as a porridge in developing countries and has only recently become available here in Australia. A recent article in Food Australia  alerted us to the existence of the flour and so we thought we’d try it out.

Two sorts of bananas

The bananas in the Food Australia article were Lady Finger bananas and they assert that these bananas produce a flour which “has the highest tested resistant starch in the world”. Check out Catherine’s post on resistant starch here.  What’s more they say that “Lady Finger bananas kill bacteria and have powerful anti-inflammatory and rejuvenation properties”. Quite a call.

We looked for the Lady Finger banana flour, marketed under the Natural Evolution brand name. Unfortunately we couldn’t find any in Sydney but we did find the Lotus Green Banana Flour and decided to give it a try.

Lotus Green Banana Flour

This flour is made by drying and grinding green bananas. The bananas in the product though are Cavendish bananas, not Lady Fingers. The package asserts that it is: Gluten Free, Lactose Free, Dairy Free, Suitable for Vegans, Soy Free, Source of Fibre, Wheat Free and Nut Free.

A bit of a health halo overload in my view. Most ordinary wheat flour anyway is lactose free, dairy free, nut free, soy free and suitable for vegans.

Having said that, being wheat free and gluten free is a plus and offers more choices for those with coeliac disease or who are gluten or wheat intolerant.

How does it work in recipes?

We decided to make up the Banana Flour pancake recipe on the reverse of the pack. We cooked it on medium heat in a teaspoon of coconut oil for 4 minutes one side and 3 minutes on the other, as per the instructions.

The pancake was a disappointment. Especially considering the yummy ingredients it had: three eggs, vanilla bean paste, maple syrup and coconut milk. We served it with a sweet yoghurt and some strawberries but they couldn’t redeem it. It had a dense texture that was unpleasant to eat. When eaten on its own without the accompanying yoghurt, it was tasteless.

Maybe it’s a good idea but a poor recipe

If you’re gluten or wheat intolerant or have coeliac disease then this is another flour you can use.

It’s a great idea to add another source of resistant starch to your diet but it’s probably better to use the green banana flour as part of the flour you use in a recipe - rather than as the only flour.

Pros

• Gluten free
• Wheat Free
• Source of resistant starch
• Source of fibre
• Packed in Australia from local ingredients
• Low food miles

Cons

• Expensive at $14.99 for 500 g
• Doesn’t taste of banana – as you might expect
• A fairly coarse flour that starts to separate in the pancake batter between cooking times
• Produces a pancake with an unpleasant texture and no taste
• The “resealable” pack doesn’t reseal because the flour gets into the groove when you pour the flour out.

The bottom line

If you’re gluten- or wheat-intolerant or have coeliac disease, then this is another flour you can use. It is a source of resistant starch which is a plus, so you could swap ¼ of the ordinary flour you use in a cake and it would probably work well. Would I buy it again? Sorry, no.

P.S. Since writing this I gave it to  friend to try and she found using half green banana flour and half ordinary flour to be a good mix.

Please note: Nothing in this review refers to the Natural Evolution product which we were unable to test.

Thanks to guest reviewer, Munaiba Khan, a retired naturopath with an interest in nutrition.

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