Aproveitamento do subproduto do cajá para a produção de novos ingredientes alimentícios

Abstract

Cajá (Spondias mombin L.) is a fruit belonging to the Anacardiaceae family, typical of tropical climates. From the processing of cajá, a large quantity of peels and seeds are obtained, which can be an excellent source of nutrients. This work is based on the hypothesis that these seeds could be a viable, low-cost alternative for the production of food ingredients. The aim is to isolate and characterize the starchy material of the cajá seed and the co-product of this isolation, as well as evaluating its physicochemical, physical and microbiological properties. The seeds were donated by a fruit pulp cooperative and from this raw material the starchy material and the coproduct were isolated by aqueous maceration. To evaluate the components of the extracted raw materials, the centesimal composition was carried out. The starch material and its coproduct showed 10.31 and 3.71 g.100g-1 of protein, respectively, which may be due to two factors that can influence this difference: temperature and protein solubility, showing that a waste material from the food industry can be a rich source of protein. The solubility and wettability analyses showed that the by-product is more soluble compared to the starch material. With regard to the microbiological analyses of Escherichia coli (UFC/g), Bacillus cereus (UFC/g), Salmonella ssp. (25 g), the samples were within the standard pre-established by the National Health Surveillance Agency - ANVISA. In view of the results, it was found that a by-product that would be discarded by the agro-industry is a material of great importance and relevance to the food industry, as it provides the formation of new ingredients, which are an option for the nutritional enrichment of food products.