Quality of the beverage preparation produced from juçara pulp subjected to heat treatment

Summary

Palms of the genus Euterpe have remarkable economic and cultural importance, their value residing, in part, from the numerous forms of use, amongst which one can highlight the consumption of the palm hearts and of a beverage made from their fruits. This study aims to evaluate the efficiency of a prior heat treatment of the juçara fruits (E. edulis Martius) used in the processing of the pulp destined to produce a beverage preparation with high nutritional quality and safe for consumption. The fruits were sorted, sanitized with sodium hypochlorite (200 ppm/15 min) and subjected to three heat treatments (100 °C/5 s, 80 °C/10 s and 80 °C/30 s). After the heat treatments, the fruits were pulped, followed by freezing of the pulp and storage at -20 °C. The results of the microbiological analyses demonstrated that only the treatment at 100 °C/5 s was adequate to conform with the microbiological parameters required by Brazilian legislation for açaí pulp, and also preserve the anthocyanin content and antioxidant activity. In conclusion, the heat treatment (100 °C/5 s) is a feasible, fast and low-cost method, which contributes to the production of a high quality and safe beverage.

Keywords:
Heat treatment; Microorganisms; Antioxidant; Food safety; Euterpe edulis M