Elaboração e caracterização de farinha do resíduo de umbu-cajá (Spondias spp.)

Abstract

Umbu-cajá (Spondias spp.) is a typical tropical fruit from northeastern Brazil that belongs to the family Anacardiaceae and genus Spondias, and is considered a natural hybrid between umbuzeiro (Spondias tuberosa) and cajazeira (Spondias lutea). The umbu-cajá residue from fruit processing in industries can be a very important component for agroindustry, as its use can reduce the impact of economic activity on the environment. The objective of this work was to obtain flour from the umbu-cajá (Spondias spp.) Residue by the forced-air oven drying method at temperatures of 60, 70 and 80°C. The fruits were washed, sanitized and then cut, crushed and subjected to oven drying with forced air circulation at 60 °C/3d; 70 °C/2d and 80 °C/2d. The yield values 16.72%, 11.86% and 11.73% obtained for the dehydrated flours at 60, 70 and 80ºC respectively. Both the residue and the obtained flours were characterized with physical-chemical (Water content, Ash content, pH, SST, ATT and Ratio) and physical (Water activity, Bulk density, Compact density, Stability, Color, Solubility, Wettability and Rest Angle). For the physicochemical analysis of the flour of the residue, only the water content and the ash content presented significant statistical difference, thus showing that the temperature as well as the drying time influenced these parameters. Regarding the physical analyzes, all parameters presented statistically significant differences. The flour of the residue showed reduction in moisture content, water activity, wettability, solubility and luminosity (L*) as the drying temperature increased. For the parameters of wettability and solubility, it was observed that the flour obtained at 80ºC took longer to submerge than the flour obtained at 60ºC and 70ºC. The flour obtained at 80ºC presented the highest value of a *, being the reddest and the flour obtained at 60ºC the yellowest, as it presented the highest value of b *. During drying, samples containing the umbu-cajá residue were weighed to constant weight to construct the drying curves. The behavior of the drying curves was evaluated and adjusted to the Henderson & Pabis, Page and Logarithmic models. The three models tested presented a good fit to the experimental data of the drying kinetics of the umbu-cajá residue, especially Page model. The dehydrated residue at temperatures of 60, 70 and 80ºC presented drying kinetics times of 960, 810 and 660 minutes respectively, evidencing that with the increase of the drying temperature there is a reduction of the processing time.