Desenvolvimento tecnológico e caracterização físico-químico da farinha de carnaúba (Copernicia prunifera (Mill.) H. E. Moore)

Abstract

Carnaubeira is a palm tree native to Brazil and its largest production occurs mainly in thestates of the Northeast region. The use of carnauba is essential for the economy, as it generates work and income for rural communities and large urban centers. However, fromthe parts of the carnauba tree that are extracted, the almond and the pulp are little used inhuman food, even with a technological potential that comes from possibilities for the development of products. With this, the objective was to study different drying conditionsin order to develop and characterize the almond flour and carnauba pulp. Through an Incomplete Factorial Design, different drying conditions were defined combining time (X1) and temperature (X2) for the dehydration of the carnauba almond and pulp. Four drying treatments were obtained. For all treatments, the parameters of granulometry, moisture, pH, total titratable acidity, totalsoluble solids, ratio and thermogravimetry wereanalyzed. The analysis responses were significant, for example the moisture of the two flours presented values within the standards proposed by the literature, guaranteeing stability conditions. With this, it can be concluded that almond flour and pulp flour presented satisfactory physicochemical and technological characteristics that allow their inclusion in the development of new food products, as well as the valorization of the raw material.