Aproveitamento de frutas nativas para elaboração de farinhas e incorporação em biscoitos tipo cookies

Abstract

The cultivation and exploitation of Brazilian native fruits are incipient. The knowledge about the best use of these fruits goes through a work of selection, improvement of plants and studies of conservation, transformation and processing. The consumption of fruits is beneficial to the human organism, because many fruits have compounds that when ingested act at the cellular level and promote many health benefits. Developing flours that maintain the nutritional characteristics of the fruits is an interesting alternative, since it allows the access to the consumption during several periods, being not restricted only in the time of harvest, besides avoiding the waste of foods. The present study aimed to process araçá-amarelo fruits cultivating Psidium cattleyanum Ya-ci, Araçá-vermelho Irapuã cultivar (Psidium longipetiolatum) and pitanga (Eugenia uniflora L) tropicana cultivar of different pulp (yellow, red and purple) in the didactic orchard of UTFPR Dois Vizinhos, in order to obtain flour. Drying pre-tests were carried out with the araçá-amarelo to verify which temperatures were conserved in the fruits analyzed in natura. Three temperatures were chosen for the drying pre-tests (65, 70 and 75 ° C). The temperature of 75ºC was chosen for the other dryings, since it preserves the phenolic compounds and the antioxidant activity of the fruits, allowing a shorter drying time. In the pre-tests, the araçá-amarelo obtained values of 188.69 mAGE / 100g for the phenolic compounds, and 2.23 g fruit / g DPPH for the antioxidant activity (EC50), at a temperature of 75ºC. There was no statistical difference between temperatures. The other results indicate that all fruits and flours are good sources of bioactive compounds presenting antioxidant activity. Drying allowed the reduction of water activity, the reduction of the volume and the conservation in conditions of food security so that the flour could be used in the processes of obtaining food. Three formulations were prepared cookies type cookies with the flour of araçá-amarelo, with the intention of applicability of the flour. The results of the biscuits analysis showed that the components present in the flour remain in the biscuits after the cooking process. In this way this study showed that it is possible to obtain foods that contain the same nutritional characteristics of the fruits in natura.