Aroldo Arévalo-Pinedo

Processamento e estudo da estabilidade de pasta de pequi (Caryocar brasiliense)

The aim of this paper was to develop a process to obtain a salted and unsalted pequi paste for culinary use and to evaluate its stability when packed in plastic or in glass jars during 180 days of storage. The process included peeling of pequi fruit, pulp cutting, obtain the paste with the use of a blender, acidification of the product with citric acid at a pH < 4,5, addition 10% of NaCl (to avoid the development of deteriorating microorganisms and enzymatic darkening), thermal treatment at 80 oC during 10 minutes, and hot filling in plastic and glass jars. The final product was submitted to microbiological and physicochemical analysis of the pH values and acidity and color evaluation. The results showed what the acidification with citric acid and hot filling process was effective to establish commercial sterility to the pequi paste in glass jars during a four-month period. The paste was more stable when packed in glass jars than in plastic jars with respect to microbiological and physicochemical analysis and color degradation during the four-month period.

Datos experimentales de la cinética del secado y del modelo matemático para pulpa de cupuaçu (Theobroma grandiflorum) en rodajas

This work examined experimentally the kinetics of drying cupuacu pulp (Theobroma grandiflorum) slices. The experimental runs were driven in a laboratory dryer, at temperatures of 50, 60 and 70 oC and an air drying velocity of 1.5 m/s. According to the kinetics study, increasing the temperature led to a decrease in drying time. The required drying times were 9.2, 8.1 and 7.3 hours for drying temperatures of 50, 60 and 70 oC respectively. The experimental drying curves were adjusted to Ficks diffusional model for an infinite lamina with shrinkage and Page model. The diffusion coefficients of the Fick model varied between 1.171 and 1.561 m/s2.