Plantain is a staple food in many tropical areas, including in West and Central Africa. Irrespective of the country, boiling in water is the most widely used method of preparing plantain for consumption. Boiled pulp is a major form of consumption for plantain. Plantain can be consumed at different stages of ripeness: boiled at a green stage like other starchy food or eaten at a ripe/overripe stage like a fruit. Although texture and flavor are claimed to be the main criteria for boiled plantain acceptability, almost no data are available that objectively describe the sensory quality of boiled plantain assessed by a trained panel and measured by instrumental analyses.

The aims of the present study were thus to: (i) describe the sensory diversity of boiled plantain at three apparent contrasting stages of ripeness (green, half-ripe, and ripe), and (ii) predict sensory attributes of texture and taste using textural and physicochemical characterization. Firmness, chewiness, stickiness, mealiness, sweetness and moistness described sensory variability, which was greater between stages of ripeness than between types of cultivars. Firmness and chewiness were well-predicted by instrumental force and hardness, and by soluble solid and dry matter content. Complementary sensitivity analysis revealed the level of pulp puncture force, which was necessary to perceive a difference in firmness or chewiness by panelists.

Finally, robust predictors of the texture for boiled plantain were identified using easy-to-measure physicochemical and textural tests. This information will be useful in determining high throughput screening methods that can be used to select breeding lines for preferred quality traits in boiled plantain which is the one of the main objectives of RTBfoods project.