ELABORAÇÃO DE BALA DE GOMA ADICIONADA DE POLPA DE SAPOTA (Manilkara zapota L.)

Abstract

Brazil is the fourth greatest consumer of sucrose in the world; this high intake is worrisome considering its harmful effects when consumed in a disharmonious manner, especially by children and young persons. The great obstacle for a conscious and moderate consumption lies in the reduction of sugars inserted in development and fabrication of industrialized products. Jelly candies, or gummis, are sweets produced in a large variety of shapes, colors and flavors and offer low nutricional value. The insertion of fruits in the formulation of candies can be used as a means for providing nutrients essential to health. This study’s main objective was the development of a jelly candy using pulp from the sapodilla (Manilkara zapota L) as a partial substitute for the sucrose present in the traditional formulation. For the production of the candy the following ingredients were used: sapodilla pulp, sugar, glucose syrup, gelatin, pectin and citric acid. The candy’s experimental planning was done with variations in gelatin (5%, 10% and 15%) and pectin (0.5%, 1% and 1.5%). After the preparation of the candies came the physical and chemical analysis of the sapodilla pulp. In the produced candies, the shear strength, texture, color and physical and chemical of different preparations were tested. The resulting values for the pulp were a pH of 6.10, humidity of 74.7%, a total of soluble solids of 18.4 °Brix and a a total sugar percentage of 13.88. In the color evaluation of each candy preparation a higher tendency towards darker colors was perceived, with greater intensity in reds and yellows. Preparation 2 showed better results with shear strength of 10N; with this analysis the adequate quantities of gelatin and pectin for the formulation of these candies were defined. The presence of fruit pulp as an ingredient influences the texture of the jelly candies. The preparations 2 (5% gelatin, 0.5% pectin and 0.75g citric and) and 6 (5%gelatin, 0.5% pectin and 1.25g citric acid) displayed significative differences (p ≤ 0.05) in the hardiness parameter. Preparation 6 obtained better results, due to the increase in citric acid concentration, which resulted in a pH of 3.91, total of soluble solids of 75.7 °Brix and a total of sugars of 54.9%. The analyses point to the sapodilla pulp as a viable partial substitute for sugars in jelly candies, thus making feasable the development of an innovative product.