Elaboração de cerveja artesanal: explorando os compostos antioxidantes da Clitoria ternatea

Abstract

Unconventional food plants are all plants that have one or more edible parts. Clitoria ternatea is a plant native to Asia, also known as butterfly pea, butterfly bean, cunhã, blue fairy and blue flower, and is widely used in tea preparations, as a natural dye and has a wide application in the food industry, which is classified as an unconventional food plant. This flower has been the focus of studies because it presents antioxidant compounds, especially anthocyanins. The beverage sector, an area where C. ternatea can be applied, has been growing significantly in the country, with Brazil being the third largest producer and consumer of beer in the world. Brazilian legislation describes beer as a beverage composed of four main ingredients, namely water, malt, hops and yeast. It can also be added with other inputs and adjuncts, such as flowers. In this context, this study developed a Summer Ale style beer with added C. ternatea and evaluated the antioxidant potential of the different formulations. First, a study was carried out to obtain aqueous extracts of the flower, at different concentrations and extraction times, evaluating their antioxidant compounds and color analysis using the CIELAB scale in an experimental design. In addition, an extra extract with a higher concentration of flower was added. After selecting the best extraction condition, four craft beer formulations were produced, one with the addition of the extract at the end of the boil (F1 - 0.18% flower), two with addition during maturation, at different concentrations (F2 - 0.18% and F3 - 3%), and a control formulation, without the addition of the extract (F4). From this, physicochemical, antioxidant potential, microbiological and finally statistical analyses were performed. This study showed that C. ternatea contributed positively to the composition of the beers developed, and showed antioxidant activity, detecting the presence of total phenolic compounds, antioxidants by the DPPH and ABTS methods, and anthocyanins. Formulation 3, with extra extract (3% flower), showed the best results in terms of antioxidant activity, especially in the anthocyanin content. Comparing the addition methods, it was observed that formulation 1, with extract added at the end of the boil, provided greater anthocyanin extraction than formulation 2, in which the extract was added during maturation.