Desenvolvimento de biscoitos ricos em fibras, com e sem adição de açúcar, elaborados com farinha mista de casca e maracujá amarelo (Passiflora edulis Flavicarpa) e fécula de mandioca (Manihot esculenta Crantz)

Abstract

Studies have shown significant changes in Brazilians’ eating habits, which increasingly replace whole foods rich in fiber for high-calorie and non-nutritive foods. This trend contributes to increase fatty acids and simple carbohydrates consumption in their diet in detriment of important nutrients as fiber. This dietary pattern represents a risk factor for developing chronic diseases, like diabetes. Thus, this research aimed to develop a fortified cookie, rich in fiber and others healthy nutrients, but showing accessible cost to the low-incoming classes, and easy to be inserted on the Brazilians’ diet, especially in segments of risk, such as those with diabetes. Initially, regular cookies were developed, in which the levels of cassava starch, passion fruit peel flour and sugar were optimized using Response Surface Methodology associated with a 23 factorial design. Consumer acceptance for the attributes appearance, aroma, flavor, texture and overall impression, obtained through affective sensory tests, were used as response variables. The results indicated that the independent variable "sugar" had significant impact on the consumers’ flavor acceptability (p=0,0005), the overall acceptability (p=0,0228) and their purchase intent (p=0,0046). The replacement of 35% of the wheat flour in standard recipe for 17.5% starch cassava flour and 17,5% of passion fruit peel, with an increase of 15% sugar over the amount originally present in the standard recipe, generated cookies with good acceptability among the consumers; thus, this was considered the optimized formulation. This formulation contained 4,27g fiber/100g of cookie, allowing the cookie to be claimed as a high fiber product by the Brazilian law. Two formulations of sugar-free cookies were developed and well accepted among consumers, one of them was formulated with a commercial sweetener based on sucralose and acessulfam-K , and the other with a mixture of cyclamate and saccharin; both of them contained polidextrose. The use of polidextrose increased the cookies acceptability (p≤0,05) among the consumers. Consumers with diabetes Mellitus who participated in affective test showed levels of acceptance (p≤0,05) significantly higher than the non-diabetes consumers for most of the sensory attributes tested. This result suggests that habitual consumers of sweeteners and dietary products have different opinion towards dietetic foods as compared with those individuals that do not have frequent consumption of sweetener.