DEVELOPMENT AND CARACTERIZATION OF VEGAN DULCE DE LECHE BASED ON BARU NUT AND CASHEW NUT

Abstract: Studies show that consumers with dietary restrictions on lactose and cow's milk protein struggle to find differentiated and specific products for these restrictions. Therefore, this work aimed to develop vegan dulce de leche based on water-soluble baru nut (EHB) and cashew nut (EHC) vegetable extract. The baru nut-based dulce de leche (DVCB) was initially prepared by melting 30% of total sucrose (8.5g) over low heat until milk caramel was obtained, followed by the addition of EHB (91.5 mL) and the remaining sucrose (70%) until 65°brix was obtained, then cooled until reaching 70°C, bottled in glass containers and stored at room temperature. The cashew nut-based dulce de leche (DVCC) was obtained in the same way, but the milk caramel was obtained with 50% of total sucrose (15.5g), the amount of EHB was 84.5 mL and the final brix 40. The samples were evaluated according to centesimal analysis. Phenol concentrations, fatty acid profile, microbiological analysis and sensory evaluation. DVCB presented higher levels of protein (4,83 g), lipids (11,57 %), (44,69 g) total and (6,54 g)reducing sugars, (1,54 %) ashes and (81,69 mg) phenols when compared to DVCC. The lipid analysis by CG-MS revealed that the developed caramels have a high amount of unsaturated fatty acids, and the sum of their relative peak area was 79.89 and 84.06% for DVCC and DVCB, respectively. The microbiological analysis did not reveal the presence of the microorganisms studied for the DVCB and DVCC. In the sensory evaluation all evaluated parameters (appearance, colour, aroma, taste and consistency) obtained grades between 6-7, situated between “slightly liked” and “moderately liked”, with no difference between them. The results show that it is possible to prepare chestnut-based dulce de leche with nutritional quality for vegans and/or individuals who have allergies, meeting consumers' expectations.