Anais do Simpósio Latino Americano de Ciências de Alimentos
Anais do 14 SLACA - Simpósio Latino Americano de Ciência de Alimentos

Kefir shows beneficial health effects. However, it is not widely consumed due to its unappreciated flavor. Therefore, this work aimed to evaluate the sensory characteristics of kefir added with banana and cinnamon. Kefir grains (10%) were inoculated in UHT milk and incubated at 25 °C for 24h. Subsequently, the fermented milk was separated from the grains and stored at 4 °C for 24h for maturation. Banana (7.22%) and different concentrations of cinnamon (F1=0%; F2=0.5% and F3=1%) were added to the fermented milk. The formulations were characterized in relation to sensory attributes by the focus group, consisting of 12 participants, lasting 50 minutes. The coded samples were distributed to the judges in a monadic way and the attributes appearance, aroma, texture, and flavor were described. Furthermore, product acceptance was evaluated. The sensory descriptors that presented the highest frequency were used to characterize fermented beverages. It was found that F1 and F2 had a white color and F3 a beige color. In common, F1, F2 and F3 were described with the presence of bubbles, dark spots and foam, banana aroma, and fermented milk. The cinnamon aroma was only mentioned for F3. All formulations had a viscous, creamy, and full-bodied texture. Acid and fermented flavors were reported for all formulations. However, only F3 was described as having a sweet taste. Regarding the acceptance test, F1, F2 and F3 presented mean values of 6.25, 6.38 and 7.81, respectively. Thus, F1 and F2 were classified between the scales of 6 (like slightly) and 7 (like moderately), while F3 was between 7 (like moderately) and 8 (like very much). It was concluded that the higher addition of cinnamon (1%) contributed to the beige color and greater sensory acceptance. Probably, the cinnamon concealed the acidity and caused a sweet sensation to the product.