Aproveitamento do albúmen sólido do coco verde para obtenção de smoothie de frutas tropicais

Abstract

In the bottled coconut water industries, the shells are usually discarded, with the solid albumen (green coconut pulp) adhered to it, a coproduct that has not yet been studied in relation to its nutritional composition and the possibility of application in beverages like smoothie. Fruits such as acerola and pineapple contribute with important sensory and nutritional characteristics to these beverages, due to the high vitamin C content of acerola and sweet-sour balance flavor of pineapple. Therefore, the objective of this study was to use the solid albumen of the green coconut in order to develop a smoothie. The albumen used in this study was provided by the coconut water company Rei do Coco, located in Barra do Piraí/RJ, manually collected, packaged in aluminized flexible packages and frozen stored in a cold room at -18 °C until the moment of formulation of smoothies. The formulations were developed following a mixture experimental design, with a fixed concentration (20%) of the green coconut pulp and the contents of the three other components (acerola and pineapple pulps and coconut water) as the independent factors, completing 80% of the total mass of the product. The evaluated response parameters were vitamin C content, antioxidant capacity and overall sensory acceptance. The raw materials and the final product were characterized for physico-chemical analysis, bioactive compounds and antioxidant capacity. In addition, it was analyzed the stability of the best smoothie formulation during 90 days under refrigeration. The characterization of albumen showed that it has considerable lipid, protein and carbohydrate contents and its application in a mixed drink can contribute to the flavor and nutritional value of the product, as well as to add value to the green coconut industry. Regarding the development of the beverage, it was observed that, among the ten formulations, those containing the highest concentrations of acerola pulp presented higher values of bioactive compounds, although they were not the most sensory accepted . The desirability function permitted to define a best formulation that consisted of green coconut pulp (20%), acerola (27%) and pineapple (53%), without coconut water. This formulation presented good acceptance with a score equal to 7 ("good"). The smoothie stored for 90 days under refrigeration showed a light degradation of the bioactive compounds, a little change in the parameters of color and a microbiological quality according to the current legislation, during 60 days. Besides of its good sensory acceptance, the selected final smoothie can add to the nutritional contribution and to add value to the beverage industry coproduct