Tropical Fruit Pulps: Processing, Product Standardization and Main Control Parameters for Quality Assurance

ABSTRACT Fruit pulp is the most basic food product obtained from fresh fruit processing. Fruit pulps can be cold stored for long periods of time, but they also can be used to fabricate juices, ice creams, sweets, jellies and yogurts. The exploitation of tropical fruits has leveraged the entire Brazilian fruit pulp sector due mainly to the high acceptance of their organoleptic properties and remarkable nutritional facts. However, several works published in the last decades have pointed out unfavorable conditions regarding the consumption of tropical fruit pulps. This negative scenario has been associated with unsatisfactory physico-chemical and microbiological parameters of fruits pulps as outcomes of little knowledge and improper management within the fruit pulp industry. There are protocols for delineating specific identity and quality standards (IQSs) and standardized good manufacturing practices (GMP) for fruit pulps, which also embrace standard operating procedures (SOPs) and hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP), although this latter is not considered mandatory by the Brazilian legislation. Unfortunately, the lack of skilled labor, along with failures in complying established protocols have impaired quality of fruit pulps. It has been necessary to collect all information available with the aim to identify the most important hazards within fruit pulp processing lines. Standardizing methods and practices within the Brazilian fruit pulp industry would assurance high quality status to tropical fruit pulps and the commercial growth of this vegetal product towards international markets

Produção e aceitabilidade de cenoura sob cultivo orgânico no inverno e no verão Production and acceptability of carrot under organic cultivation in winter and summer

Para o cultivo da cenoura é importante conhecer a adaptação das cultivares de acordo com as condições climáticas do local e a preferência do consumidor. Com o objetivo de avaliar o desempenho e a aceitação, detectando assim a preferência dos consumidores a diferentes cultivares de cenoura em sistema de cultivo orgânico, realizou-se o presente trabalho. Avaliou-se o desempenho das cultivares de cenoura em Dois Vizinhos (PR). O delineamento experimental utilizado foi blocos casualizados com cinco repetições e quatro tratamentos para a época de inverno (cvs Nantes, Shin Kuroda, Danvers e Flaker) e cinco tratamentos para o verão (cvs Shin Kuroda, Kuronan, Brasília, Esplanada e Carandaí). Avaliou-se a resistência à queima das folhas (Alternaria dauci), incidência de ombro verde, sólidos solúveis totais, produtividade e aceitabilidade, por meio de análise sensorial das cenouras in natura e em conserva tipo picles. Para o cultivo de inverno a cultivar Nantes resultou em maior produtividade (29,02 t ha-1) e para o cultivo de verão a produtividade da cultivar Esplanada foi superior (32,0 t ha-1) às demais cultivares, que não diferiram estatisticamente entre si. A cv. Esplanada apresentou maior resistência à queima das folhas e menor percentagem (5,6%) de ombro verde. As características organolépticas das cultivares apresentaram boa aceitabilidade pelos consumidores participantes.<br>For the carrot cultivation it is important to understand the adaptation of cultivars according to the local weather conditions and consumer preference. The objective was to evaluate the performance and acceptance, thereby detecting the consumer's preference for different carrot cultivars in organic cropping system. The performance of the cultivars Nantes, Shin Kuroda and Danvers Flaker was evaluated in the winter season and cultivars Shin Kuroda, Kuronan, Brasilia, Esplanada and Carandaí for cultivation of summer in Dois Vizinhos, Paraná state, Brazil. The experimental design was randomized blocks with five replications and four treatments for the winter season and five treatments for the summer season. We analyzed the resistance to leaf blight (Alternaria dauci), incidence of green shoulder, total soluble solids, yield and acceptability through sensory analysis of fresh carrots and canned pickles type. On the winter crop, cultivar Nantes resulted in higher yield (29.02 t ha-1) and on the summer crop cultivar Esplanada productivity was higher (32.0 t ha-1) without statistical difference. The cv. Esplanada was more resistant to leaf blight and presented the lowest percentage (5.6%) of green shoulder. For sensory analysis, the cvs presented good acceptability from the participating consumers