Desenvolvimento de tapioca fortificada com carotenoides da cenoura e investigação das propriedades do amido de mandioca

Abstract

Considered one of the most explored crops in the world, cassava is a root rich in starch, used in the preparation of various products. Currently, cassava starch is hydrated and marketed in several Brazilian regions, this product known on the market as tapioca gum has been used for decades in the production of tapioca, but it has only recently been industrialized. Tapioca from northeastern Brazil, is a starchy product based on cassava, in the form of a pancake widely consumed by a large part of the regional population, and has been expanding commercially in recent years and is gaining more and more space in the international market. Despite its popularity, there are few systematic studies on tapioca and its nutritional improvement. Thus, the objective of this research was to investigate the characteristics of tapioca together with the transformations occurred in cassava starch during the elaboration process, to propose a scientific definition of tapioca, including the technical specification of the material, and to fortify it with provitamin A carotenoids. of the carrot. For this purpose, the physical characteristics of tapioca were first investigated, applying an aggregate particle size distribution test in order to clarify the temperature and water content conditions in which the continuous particle aggregate is obtained, refers to tapioca. This thesis also carried out a study on the characteristics of cassava starch in mixtures with a high concentration of starch (40 -85 %), through rheological analyzes, XRD and SEM. Finally, carotenoid microparticles were developed using the complex coacervation technique followed by drying at 30 ° C in an air circulation oven. The microparticles were inserted into the cassava gum and compared with the gum fortified with carrot juice. The results showed that hydrated starch or cassava gum must have a minimum of 37% water content for tapioca formation to occur. It was observed that tapioca has a translucent and fully gelatinized core that is elastic and highly cohesive, and dry crusts with granular structure similar to that of native cassava starch. It is suggested that thick tapioca (5 mm) be prepared at temperatures above 200 ° C, while thin tapioca can be prepared at temperatures above 100 ° C, if the cassava starch has at least 43% content of water. In addition, this study showed that the texture of tapioca seems to be influenced mainly by the cooking time. It was noted, through SEM, the breaking of the starch granules into starch particles after heating the mixture with 35 % (w / w) starch. The native starch sample showed characteristics of the type A crystallinity pattern, the same was presented by the samples with 15 25 % starch, while the samples with 50 and 60 % showed a relevant loss of the degree of crystallinity resulting from the applied heat treatment. The development of the carrot carotenoid microparticle carried out from complex coacervation allowed the separation of up to 87 % of the carrot serum, concentrating on average five times the carrot carotenoid. In addition, we were able to dry the solids from the coacervated carrot juice with cassava starch as a drying agent to obtain a dry powder. The encapsulation process reached 79 % efficiency. It can be said that the technique developed in this research for the encapsulation of carrot carotenoids is quite simple to be controlled and can be applied directly by the local industries, since it does not require sophisticated equipment and a single installation. The fortification of cassava gum with the carrot carotenoid microparticle allows to standardize the concentration of vitamin A and direct the recommended daily intake in the product, which would not be feasible if the fortification were carried out with the addition of carrot juice.