Obtenção da farinha de abacaxi a partir da secagem dos resíduos agroindústriais da fruta para aplicação em formulações de cookies

Abstract

The climatic and territorial conditions of Brazil place the country in a prominent position in terms of fruit production, being considered the third largest producer in the world. Although this high fruit yield offers positive aspects, the processing of pulp, juice and other derivatives is responsible for the generation of tons of waste, which are mostly discarded in an inadequate manner, leading to environmental pollution, one of problems of the present century. In view of this context, in order to reduce and reuse the large amount of waste generated by these industries, mitigating environmental problems, the objective of this study was to produce and characterize a flour derived from processing residues of pineapple pulp. The flour was characterized in terms of physico-chemical, nutritional, microbiological and later used in the preparation of cookies with partial substitution, of 25 and 50% of the wheat flour. Cookies were submitted to sensory evaluation of 65 untrained testers. After drying, a flour with excellent moisture (2,00%) and water activity (0,330), total titratable acidity (3,436) was obtained, contributing to the inhibition of microbiological attacks. In addition, it presented a reasonable fluidity, non-hygroscopicity and good solubility. In the centesimal composition, pineapple flour had a low amount of fat (0,746%), an excellent amount of fibers (22,071%) and total carbohydrates (69,925%), which explains its high calorific value (387,51 Kcal / 100 g). The sensorial analysis was carried out through the hedonic scale in order to investigate the acceptability index of cookies. It was verified, good acceptance, with indices higher than 70% for most attributes and formulations. The pineapple residue flour complies with the microbiological standards established by the current Brazilian legislation and has also been interesting from the environmental and nutritional points of view, showing excellent results as regards its centesimal composition, proving a viable alternative for the supplementation and / or supplementation of important nutrients for food, and can be used as an ingredient in the preparation of new and inexpensive food products.