DEVELOPMENT OF FUNCTIONAL BEVERAGES FROM BLENDS OF MURICI AND TAPEREBÁ
The Amazon region stands out due to its large amount of native fruits rich in vitamins with diverse flavors and taste and high economic and nutritional potential. Amazonian fruits, such as murici (Byrsonima crassifolia) and tapereba (Spondias mombin) are excellent sources of bioactive compounds such as vitamin C, phenolic compounds and carotenoids and can be used to beverages production in order to improve the nutritional and sensorial characteristics of these products. Therefore, the present work aimed to develop murici and tapereba based beverages, using experimental planning 2³, in which the independent variables were: pulp concentration of tapereba (g/kg), pulp concentration of murici (g/kg) and sugar (%). The beverage samples were analyzed by 100 consumers using hedonic scale in relation to the attributes: appearance, aroma, flavor, texture and overall impression. Seventeen trials were carried out, containing 6 axial points and 3 central points. Sensory analysis was evaluated through surface response methodology. The linear parameters of the variables sugar and murici concentration significantly influenced (p < 0.05) the texture and flavor attributes of beverage. In relation to the appearance, the parameters that influenced positively with statistical difference (p <0.05) were the concentration of taperebá (linear and quadratic) and sugar. The formulations presented high overall impression scores that varied ranged from 6.24 to 7.10, except for two formulations whose formulation had low sugar content (7.5%) and high concentration of murici (195g/L). The sample with the highest average for all attributes had 10% sugar, 150 g/L of tapereba and 74.4 g/L of murici. These results open up perspectives on the combination of fruits in the marketing of functional beverages.