Qualidade de coloríficos de urucum comercializados em diferentes regiões do Brasil

Abstract

Among the carotenoids of industrial interest, feature the ones extracted from annatto (Bixa orellana L.). From the total Brazilian annatto production, equivalent to approximately 12,000 tons of seeds per year, about 60% is used in the production of the annatto condiment (colorífico), and the remainder 40% is either used by the dye industry or exported. The colorífico (also known as colorau) is a food condiment usually used in the Brazilian North and Northeast culinary, and produced both by non-industrial and industrial methods. Despite the high consume and economic importance of the colorífico, the incipient studies have shown the necessity of industrial advances regarding the quality control of the product and the standardization of production processes. This study aimed to evaluate the quality of coloríficos, commercialized in different regions of Brazil, regarding the food label adequacy to current legislations, as well as to evaluate the quality of samples using physico-chemical, microbiological, and microscopic analyses. Twenty eight samples of industrialized and nonindustrialized coloríficos produced in different Brazilian regions were analyzed. From the 24 industrialized samples evaluated, 22 presented the label in disagreement with current legislations (RDC 259/02, RDC 359/03, RDC 360/03 – Federal Law no 10.674/03). In general, the physico-chemical parameters analyzed showed a high variation among samples. The moisture content varied from 6,1 to 12,5%; of ashes, from 0,19 to 20,4%; of proteins, from 2,6 to 8,2%; of lipids, from 1,7 to 8,9%; of carbohydrates, from 64 to 84%, and of sodium, from 0,1 to 177 mg/100g. The percent difference between the declared values in the food labels and those obtained by analytical methods varied from -8,3% to +62,3% for proteins; from -203% to +56% for lipids; from +0,8% to 86,7% for carbohydrates, and from - 1% to +258% for sodium. To attend the legislation RDC n°12/2001, the colorífico samples must also not have the presence of Salmonella and a maximum of 5 x 102 thermotolerant coliforms. In this case, only one sample was reproved because the coliform limit was exceeded. The sample characterization, made in stereoscopic microscope, showed that 46% of samples presented some dirtiness, 65% presented unknown substances, and 73% the presence of annatto seed fragments. Forty two percent of samples presented dirtiness able to be seen by naked eye. The results of this study demonstrated an elevated lack of standardization and quality control in the production of coloríficos commercialized in Brazil. Therefore, it is needed a better control of colorífico producers by the responsible agencies, in order to enforce the fulfillment of norms established by law.