Uso da polpa de caqui como substituto alternativo do açúcar de adição em suco de morango

Abstract

The production of juices and the fresh fruit-based beverage market have grown markedly, motivated by the increasing need of the population to eat healthy foods. In addition to the nutritional factor, what makes natural fruit juices attractive in diets are sensory characteristics such as the diversity of flavor, texture and color. However, due to the acidity of some fruits, it is necessary to add sugar. In this context, strategies for promoting an adequate diet and reducing sugar levels have been the focus of public health discussions. Thus, the objective of this work was to: prepare a strawberry juice with reduced concentrations of sugar; nutritionally enrich the strawberry juice by adding persimmon pulp, in order to reduce the sugar content initially added using the sweetness of the persimmon itself; characterize the juice obtained in terms of physical-chemical and sensory parameters. Six juice samples were evaluated, with different proportions of strawberry pulp and persimmon pulp, with a 25% and 50% reduction in sucrose. For strawberry juice in both sucrose reductions, 25% and 50%, samples 1 and 2 showed higher values of parameter a * and total titratable acidity. While samples 5 and 6 are similar in terms of pH, soluble solids (SS), color parameter b * and angle Hue. Samples 3 and 4 show intermediate characteristics of the other samples in relation to the optical properties and physicochemical characteristics. Regarding the Check-All-That-Apply analysis, for strawberry juice with a 25% reduction in sucrose, samples 1, 2, ID (ideal) and 3 were characterized as red, pink red, shiny, acid , strawberry flavor, sweet aroma, strawberry aroma, smooth texture, thin and also presented higher notes of global aspect. Sample 4 presents characteristics similar to samples 1, 2, ID and 3, however it is distinguished from these in that it presents sweetness, opacity and creaminess. Samples 5 and 6 are characterized by orange, orange red, khaki aroma, pumpkin aroma, papaya aroma, banana aroma, kaki flavor, papaya flavor, banana flavor, pumpkin flavor and viscosity. For strawberry juices with 50% sucrose reduction, the characterization of the samples was similar to the characterization of juices with 25% sucrose reduction, with the difference only for sample 2, which was characterized mainly as a thin juice. For juices with 25% sucrose reduction, formulations 2 and 3 obtained good sensory acceptance scores and were similar to formulation 1, with 100% strawberry pulp and no sugar reduction. For juice samples with 50% sucrose reduction, it was observed that formulation 1 stands out from the others with the highest scores for all sensory attributes. Based on the results, persimmon added at a concentration of 12.5% shows itself as a potential substitute for sucrose in strawberry juice, being well accepted by consumers and adding nutritional value to the product.