Evaluation of the Acceptability of a Local African Doughnut-type Pastry (Mikaté) Prepared from a Mixture of Wheat Flour and Dessert Banana Powder

African doughnut-type pastries come in many varieties, the most popular in the Congo being banana doughnuts, known vernacularly as mikaté. These are made from a leavened dough obtained from a mixture of ingredients composed mainly of wheat flour and very ripe dessert bananas in the process of degradation. The aim of this study was to produce a powdered dessert banana (Musa accuminata) of the gros Michel variety at ripening stages 2, 3, 4 and 6, to be used to make fritters according to the traditional recipe. The methodology adopted was used to produce the powder, which was characterized. On the other hand, the mixing plan generated known proportions of major ingredients, and enabled the formulation of five composite flours; these were used in the preparation of the doughnuts that were the subject of the sensory evaluation. Results for the banana powder revealed a water content of 7.83%; an ash content of 3.88%; a sucrose content of 6.91°Bx; a glucose content of 6.87°Bx; and a pH of 4.28. The hedonic test revealed that doughnuts made with 65% wheat flour and 35 % banana powder were best appreciated by 35 % of tasters. The latter products were used to carry out a triangular test to compare the products obtained from the revisited recipe with those from the usual recipe. The results of the one-tailed binomial test indicated a significant difference at a 99.9 % threshold, with 73 % choosing to consume the doughnuts from the usual recipe versus 27 % for the revisited recipe.