Nowadays, new research strategies have been considered for the use of banana as adjunct or industrial supplement in different processes. Banana, an important component in the diet of the global population, is one of the fruits most consumed in the world. Besides, banana is very favorable to industrial processes (e.g. alcoholic fermentation) due to its richness in soluble solids and minerals, with low acidity. The main objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of factors as banana mass and extraction time during an aqueous hot extraction process (84ºC) of total soluble solids from banana. Thus, a 2² full-factorial star design was carried out and a model was developed to describe the behavior of the dependent variable (total soluble solids, Y) as a function of the factors (17-35 g banana mass, X₁; and 30-60 min extraction time, X₂). The experiments were performed with 105 mL of water, considering the moisture of the ripe banana (65%). Total sugars concentrations were obtained and the results expressed in Plato (ºP, which is the weight of the extract or the sugar equivalent in 100 g solution, 20ºC), in order to facilitate their use by the beverage industry. The resulting model equation was: Y = 5.58 + 1.25X₁ - 0.26X₂ - 0.37X₂²; with which it was possible to obtain the optimized extraction conditions of total soluble solids from banana as being: 38.5 g banana mass and 39.7 min of extraction time.

Acknowledgements: CAPES and FAPESP/Brasil; FCT and GRICES/Portugal