Aline Gurgel Fernandes

Efeito do processamento sobre componentes do suco de acerola

Acerola is a fruit which is much appreciated due to its high vitamin C content. It also has a good source of carotenoids and anthocyanins and is industrialised as frozen pulp and processed as juice. Research on the effects of processing on the nutritional constituent of tropical juices is scarce. Often, only the loss of vitamin C is evaluated. The aim of this work is to determine the effect of some processing operations (formulation/ homogenization and heat treatment) on physical and physical-chemical characteristics of acerola juice. The results of this research indicate small changes in the physical and physical-chemical characteristics, and a significant change in the pH, a decrease in the vitamin C and anthocyanins content and an increase in the carotenoids of the processed juice were observed.

Estabilidade dos carotenoides,antocianinas e vitamina C presentes no suco tropical de acerola (Malpighia emarginata DC.) adoçado envasado pelos processos Hot-Fill e asséptico

As frutas tropicais sao muito aceitas pelos consumidores, e sao importantes fontes de componentes antioxidantes. A acerola, conhecida por conter grandes quantidades de vitamina C, e tambem rica em antocianinas e carotenoides. O presente trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar a estabilidade dos carotenoides totais, antocianinas totais e vitamina C do suco tropical de acerola adocado, elaborado pelos processos Hot Fill (garrafas de vidro) e asseptico (embalagens cartonadas), durante 350 dias de armazenamento em condicoes similares as de comercializacao (28oC ± 2oC). Ao final do experimento observou-se que nao houve perdas de antocianinas totais para o processo Hot Fill, no entanto, para o processo asseptico constatou-se uma reducao de 86,89% dos teores iniciais. Os valores de carotenoides totais permaneceram inalterados nas amostras do processo asseptico, enquanto nas do Hot Fill houve uma reducao de 12,5%. Constatou-se reducao nos teores de vitamina C da ordem de 23,61% para o processo Hot Fill e de 35,95% para o processo asseptico.

Chemical and physicochemical characteristics changes during passion fruit juice processing

Passion fruit is widely consumed due to its pleasant flavour and aroma acidity, and it is considered very important a source of minerals and vitamins. It is used in many products such as ice-cream, mousses and, especially, juices. However, the processing of passion fruit juice may modify the composition and biodisponibility of the bioactive compounds. Investigations of the effects of processing on nutritional components in tropical juices are scarce. Frequently, only losses of vitamin C are evaluated. The objective of this paper is to investigate how some operations of passion fruit juice processing (formulation/homogeneization/thermal treatment) affect this product’s chemical and physicochemical characteristics. The results showed that the chemical and physicochemical characteristics are little affected by the processing although a reduction in vitamin C contents and anthocyanin, large quantities of carotenoids was verified even after the pasteurization stage.

Sensory evaluation of guava drinks sweetened with different sweetening agents

Due to a constant search for tropical fruit drinks and calorie reduced products, this work aimed to evaluate the degree of sweetness, flavor, overall global impression, and purchase intention of guava drinks sweetened with different sweetening agents through the response rank frequency and average test, and internal preference mapping (IPM). Guava pulp, drinking water, and sweetening agents (sucrose, mixture cyclamate/saccharine, aspartame, acesulfame K, stevia and mixture saccharine/sodium cyclamate/acesulfame K) were used. The sensory evaluation was carried out with 100 untrained tasters in laboratorial tests through the balanced complete block designs. Aiming at the evaluation of the tasters individual responses, the sensorial answers were evaluated through the IPM methodology employing the technique of main component analysis. The guava drinks sweetened with sucrose and aspartame got similar sensorial evaluation by the consumers presenting the highest average values in the acceptance test. Nevertheless, those sweetened with stevia, a mixture of three sweetening agents, and a mixture of cyclamate/saccharine presented the lowest values in the sensory evaluation. The utilization of the IPM confirmed the results obtained using the response rank frequency and average test.