Diversificação da polpa de fruta: suplementação proteica e caracterização do produto

Abstract

The practicality and consumption of healthier products and combined with the agricultural nature of Brazil, the third largest fruit producer in the world, have caused a significant increasing in the Brazilian pulp production segment in the last decade. However, this sector is undergoing a stagnation, due to the difficulty of product diversification, and in this sense, this work aimed to evaluate the use of fruit pulp as a possible carrier of functional properties, by combining them and vegetal/microbial protein sources. Several formulations were elaborated, with the fruit pulp flavors of acerola, guava, passion fruit and mandarin. The protein sources were soy protein, bee pollen and brewer's yeast. Protein sources exhibited a protein percentage between 33-46%, showing to be suitable for the study. The rheological characterization of the formulations indicated that both pulps and formulations had a pseudoplastic behavior, except for the mandarin, which exhibited dilating behavior. The addition of these sources increased the consistency index of the pulps, and the soy protein, specifically, showed an increasing of up to 10x in comparison with the control condition. Initial sensory screening using 5% protein sources in the pulps showed acceptance rates of up to 40% lower than the control (pulp without addition). The flavor was the most marked characteristic in the overall acceptance of the product (confirmed by a probability diagram and an analysis of major components - ACP) and verifying that even a small amount of the sources exhibited the bitter characteristic of vegetal/microbial proteins. Beer yeast obtained the highest degree of rejection in all flavors and therefore was excluded from the subsequent sensorial analyzes. A second group of sensory analysis, performed with apicultural pollen and soybean protein was carried out, using also whey protein as control (protein control). Some same formulations were served with and without the nutritional information, as well as several age groups were studied. Both the nutritional information and the specific group significantly increased the acceptance of the product, especially the two groups of elders and youngers that practice some physical activity (gym/sport), obtaining acceptance rates between 70-80% and showing that the cognitive response depends on these factors. Thus, marketing, public target and nutritional appeal are essential for the success and commercialization of the product.