Produção de bebida alcoólica à base de pinhão

Abstract

Pine nut is the seed of Araucaria, three extremely important for the society and economy of the Brazil´s South and severely deforested in the 1970s. Today, the pine nut is the principal product of this three and it ensures his conservation. The industrialization of the seed is few known, although it is a source of food and very rich in carbohydrates, mainly starch. In this work, it was proposed to produce a beverage through hydrolysis with α-amylase and consequent fermentation of the seed. To the hydrolysis, an experiment was planned varying temperature, proportion pine nut /water and time. The variable that most influenced hydrolysis was the temperature, with 97 ºC as the optimum point. The hydrolysis was partial resulting in a low amount of fermentable sugars. The enzymatic activity was tested against its dilution and it was found that the higher the enzyme concentration, the better its degrading effect. The beverage production was performed with the optimum hydrolysis conditions obtained in the experiment planning and the fermentation occurred for seven days at room temperature. The final product presented 3,01 ºGL of alcohol, bitter taste, acid and dry texture, not showing itself to be a product of acceptance in the market. Distillation is suggested as a way to eliminate unpleasant flavors, but the low amount of alcohol made the process unfeasible.