Seriguela (Spondias purpurea L.): propriedades físico-químicas e desenvolvimento de geléia de doce de corte e aceitabilidade desses produtos

Abstract

The red mombin tree (Spondias purpurea L.) is originary from Central America and had adapted satisfactorily to the climatic conditions of some South-American countries as Brazil. This tree produces a fruit of good appearance, nutritive quality, and much appreciated aroma, which is consumed as in natura or processed fruit as frozen pulps, juices, candies, nectars, popsicles and ice creams. This evidence shows its increasing commercialization in grocery stores, supermarkets and restaurants of country. However, there are commercial losses, which can be attributed to biologic and phytopatologic causes that indicate alarming numbers to producers. The study of red mombin composition can contribute to popularize the use of this fruit, once that it is unknown to the most of Rio de Janeiro city people. This research had as objective the characterization of the red mombim fruit (Spondias purpurea) produced in West Zone of Rio de Janeiro and the formularization of products made from pulp aiming to expand the increasing of its productive chain. The centesimal composition demonstrated that the fruit fractions with peel present greater fiber contents, therefore, the consumption of the fruit with peel must be stimulated in order to get its benefits. The researched minerals were found in larger concentrations in the fruit fractions with peel, with prominence for iron and zinc contents. However, studies should be made in order to verify the biodisponibility of these minerals. The analytical data also demonstrated that the red mombin had high vitamin C content, which is an important aid in the iron absorption by the organism. The fractions with peel had a more intense color than the pulp, probably because of the amount of received solar radiation. The red mombin had the - criptoxantin xanthophyll as main carotenoid, one of the most important provitamin A compounds. The formulated red mombin products were jellies and fruit pastes with different concentrations of sucrose. The microbiological analysis performed on elaborated products showed that hygienical-sanitary and technological conditions were satisfactory. The sensorial analysis showed that the attributes appearance, color, aroma, texture and flavor got average around seven at nine point scale hedonic, which represents the category “I like it moderately”. It indicates that exotic flavor of fruit was well accepted by consumers. The percentage of judgers demonstrated that purchase intentions for jelly and red mombin paste was fairly representative, 92 % and 82% respectively. It evidences the possibility to introduce the products made from red mombin to the market, increasing the period of useful life and the added-value of the fruit.