Abstract: The growing demand for healthier and more sustainable alternatives in food production has led to an increased interest in utilizing locally available ingredients, such as fruits, as functional additives. The potential of ripe banana (saba) as a natural thickening ingredient in the making of ice cream was examined in this study. The 10 semi-trained panelists evaluated the sensory qualities in terms of appearance, aroma, consistency, and taste and the final process for consumers’ preference evaluation by the 100 evaluators. Score cards with the 9-Point Hedonic Scale were used to obtain the data. The different treatment proportions using the banana as a thickening agent were Treatment A 100g, Treatment B 200g, and Treatment C 300g. Score cards with the Nine (9) Points Hedonic Scale was used to obtain the data. The mean and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the data into alpha level set at 0.01 alpha. The result from the sensory evaluation among the three treatments in terms of appearance, aroma, consistency, and taste revealed that Treatment A was extremely appealing, extremely pleasant, extremely smooth, and extremely delicious. Treatment B and Treatment C were very much appealing, very much pleasant, very much smooth, and very much delicious. Furthermore, in terms of consumer acceptability of banana as a thickening agent in making ice cream revealed that among the three treatments in terms of appearance, aroma, texture, and taste, Treatment A100g was liked extremely, while Treatment B 200g and Treatment C 300g were liked very much. Therefore, Treatment A 100g was generally acceptable to the consumers with banana as a thickening agent in making ice cream in terms of appearance, aroma, consistency, and taste. There was no significant difference in the sensory qualities of banana as a thickening agent in making ice cream in terms of appearance, aroma, texture, and taste, as evaluated by the experts and consumers. Therefore, banana as a thickening agent in making ice cream in terms of appearance, aroma, consistency and taste was accepted. The result also revealed that there was a significant difference in terms of appearance, aroma, consistency, and taste on the general acceptability of banana as a thickening agent in terms of appearance, aroma, consistency and taste among the three treatments. Based on microbial and proximate analyses, the product passed the minimum safety guidelines based on the Bureau of Food and Drug standards, indicating it is safe to consume, belonging to frozen goods category.

Keywords: Dessert, Banana, Ice Cream, Frozen, Thickening Agent, Treatments, Acceptability

| DOI: 10.17148/IARJSET.2025.125321