Avaliação tecnológica de quatro acessos de umbu-cajá (Spondias spp.) do Semiárido da Bahia

Abstract

The umbu-cajazeira is a native fruit from the semiarid region of Bahia with promising perspectives for the market due to increasing interest by consumers for tropical fruits. The little information regarding pulp yield and technological characteristics for the processing of this fruit, has motivated this work which adjusted the fabrication of jams, pastes and sauces of four accessions of the umbu-caja fruit (UC20, UC48, UC48, UC38). The physical-chemical and sensorial analysis were evaluated for all the products. Fruits were harvested in May and June, 2009 from four plants located in the semiarid region of Bahia (Serrinha, Retirolândia, Santa Bárbara and Santo Estevão). The selection of fruits for processing of the products was based on characteristics of pulp yield and total soluble solids. The fruits used in the processing were obtained straight from the producer in the mature-green ripening stage. The jams, sauces and pastes were elaborated according to conventional procedures. The physical-chemical analysis was the following: pH, soluble solids, total acidity, Vitamin C, ashes, humidity, total reducing and non reducing sugars. The sensorial analysis consisted of a consumer test with thirty non-trained testers, whereas the attributes of color, aroma, flavor and texture were evaluated by a 9-point structural hedonic scale. The results for each product obtained were submitted to the analysis of variance and Tukey Testa t 5% probability. Physical-chemical data analysis indicated differences between the accessions evaluated for the sensorial analysis. The UC48 presented best a acception as jam and paste.