Avaliação da influência do bagaço de morango desidratado nas características sensoriais e de textura de chocolate

Abstract

Chocolate is a product obtained from cocoa, composed of carbohydrates, proteins and lipids, but lacking in fiber. Fibers are compounds that are not digested in the stomach or intestines, but they help in the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. Fibers can be classified according to their solubility in water, where insoluble fibers are found in cereals, and soluble ones are easily found in fruits. Fruits are mainly composed of water, proteins, lipids, mineral salts, vitamins and sugars, in addition to being considered functional foods. The fruits can be consumed in natura, or else be processed, which ends up generating by-products, which most of the time are discarded in the environment, or used for animal feed, but because they are composed mainly of insoluble solids and fibers, many studies have emerging to reuse them in the food industry and add value to these by-products. The main objective of the work was to enrich the chocolate with fibers from dehydrated strawberry pomace, from the production of dehydrated strawberry pomace, determination of the insoluble solids content, evaluation of the texture parameter and application of the sensorial test of acceptance and intention of purchase. Firstly, the characterization of the bagasse was carried out, and then, through drying and grinding of the bagasse, chocolate samples were prepared with the addition of proportions of the dehydrated product. Four samples were then obtained, with 0%, 5%, 10% and 20% addition, which were submitted to a sensory test and texture test. In the sensory acceptance test, it was possible to notice that the greater the proportion of flour added, the more the tasters disliked it, as well as in the purchase intention test, where the interest in the purchase decreased with the increase in the addition of the dehydrated product, it can also be observed by the evaluation of texture in texturometer, that the greater the addition of flour, the greater was its hardness. Thus, it is possible to conclude that the most viable formulation is the one with the lowest proportion of dehydrated bagasse, as it is the one that is most similar in texture and sensorially.