Desenvolvimento de pães com valor nutricional e funcional agregado por polpa e farinha de frutos do Cerrado

Abstract

The incorporation of fruits into food, especially those from sustainable production, is an alternative for improving the population's nutrition and guaranteeing food and nutritional security. Programs to encourage healthy eating contribute to the concept of food and nutritional security. As examples, the school feeding programs in Brazil, represented by the PNAE (National School Feeding Program), can be mentioned. Considering the rich flora of the Cerrado, its fruits can be used in the elaboration of new products, with a view to improving the feeding of vulnerable populations, preserving the biome and valuing the small producer. Among the native species of the Cerrado, the marolo tree and pequi tree stand out for already proven sensorial, nutritional and functional appeal of their fruit. The rind of the pequi fruit (external mesocarp + exocarp) is commonly discarded in industrial processes, however, it has potential for use in the food industry. Bread, as the main source of energy for the world's population, is an alternative for nutritional enrichment, and can be added with other ingredients that will add sensorial and functional value and improve its nutritional value. The objective of this work was the aggregation of values to fruits of the Cerrado, through the enrichment of loaves with pulp and flour of marolo and external mesocarpo + exocarpo of pequi, aiming at a product with added nutritional and functional value, that could constitute as an alternative to school lunch and feeding of people who are food insecurity , as well as to meet the demand for a healthy eating. Breads with different levels of water replacement of the standard formulation by marolo pulp and wheat flour by marolo pulp flour and pequi external mesocarp + exocarp flour were formulated. It was found that substitutions of wheat flour by 0 to 2% of pequi external mesocarp + exocarp flour and 10 to 16% of marolo pulp flour and replacement of water by 0 to 30% of marole pulp resulted in less damage to the technological properties of breads. The breads made with these levels of substitution showed good sensory acceptance by schoolchildren and stood out as virtual vehicles ofdietary fiber, phenolics and vitamin C, besides theantioxidant activity, signaling their potential of application not only to vulnerable populations but also to the fitness public. The elaboration of breads having as ingredients fruits of the Cerrado contributes to the valorization and preservation of the biome, standing out as an alternative of income generation.