Doce em massa de bocaiuva: elaboração, caracterização físico-química, retenção de compostos bioativos, análise sensorial e estudo de vida de prateleira

Abstract

The genus Acrocomia (Arecaceae) is popularly known as bocaiuva or macaúba and is easily found in Cerrado and Pantanal areas. The fruit is rounded and has a sweet taste, formed by a thin and brittle skin and yellowish or orange pulp, with a mucilaginous and fibrous texture. It is rich in carbohydrates, fibers, lipids, minerals, essential amino acids and bioactive substances, such as ascorbic acid and provitamin A carotenoids, characterizing itself as a source of nutrients for the human diet. Its pulp can be consumed in natura or used in the preparation of various culinary products, such as mass candy, increasing conservation. In this sense, the objective of this research was to develop the product, characterize it physicochemically, quantify the retention of bioactive substances, evaluate the physical-chemical, microbiological and sensorial stability for up to 120 days and verify the effect of the type of packaging and storage time on the quality of the bocaiuva mass candy. The frozen bocaiuva pulp was acquired in the municipality of Corumbá - MS. The candy was handcrafted, following good manufacturing practices, and stored for up to 120 days in two different types of plastic packaging, polyethylene/transparent PET and polyethylene/metallized PET. It was characterized in terms of proximate composition, microbiological and sensory stability. Color, moisture, pH, soluble solids, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid retention, carotenoids, total phenolics and antioxidant capacity were evaluated at five different times for up to 120 days. Microbiological analyses were performed at 0 and 120 days, before sensory and purchase intent analysis. Bocaiuva mass candy is rich in carbohydrates, with a content of 66,01 g100 g-1 and a total energy value of 274,7 Kcal 100 g-1. Color, moisture contents, pH, soluble solids, and titratable acidity do not show statistical difference during storage. The levels of total carotenoids differed statically between the packages, with the highest value in the metallized package. The total phenolic content was not influenced by the type of packaging and did not differ during storage. There was a retention of 63% of ascorbic acid in the time 120days and a tendency to decrease the antioxidant activity. There was no detectable growth for the microorganisms evaluated at times 0 and 120 days, which suggests that the processing used was carried out following good practices and that the conservation method was effective. The results obtained in the sensory analysis showed no statistical difference between time 0 and 120 days, with averages above 6 for all attributes, except for aroma, which received an average of 5 at both times. The purchase intention also showed no statistical difference. All parameters evaluated had an acceptability index above 70%. The metallized packaging was the most efficient in conserving the parameters evaluated, as it retains a greater amount of bioactive substances. The results obtained indicate great acceptability of the bocaiuva mass candy, in addition to good retention of important nutrients for the human diet and stability during storage.