TECHNOLOGICAL AND NUTRITIONAL EVALUATION OF MOLDED SWEET BISCUITS ENRICHED WITH JUSSARA (EUTERPE EDULIS MARTIUS) PULP

Biscuits are considered a pleasant source of energy, due to their high levels of sugar and fat, not being considered relevant for nutrition. However, there is a market trend towards the production of more nutritious biscuits. In Brazilian biomes, there are many exotic fruits that are rich in bioactive compounds, such as jussara, from the Mata Atlântica, with a high content of anthocyanins. Thus, this work aimed to elaborate and evaluate molded sweet biscuits enriched with anthocyanins from jussara. The technological characteristics [instrumental color, instrumental texture, water activity (Aw), dimensions and expansion factor] and the proximate composition of three formulations: (i) control; (ii) 10% jussara pulp (P10); and (iii) 0.15% lyophilized jussara pulp (L015), were evaluated. The addition of jussara significantly altered (p < 0.05) the color of the biscuits, where P10 showed the lowest L. There was an increase in Aw (0.46; 0.41; and 0.41) and a decrease in hardness (854 gf; 1261 gf; and 1304 gf), when comparing P10 to the control and L015, respectively. Regarding dimensions and expansion factor, there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) between the three formulations. The addition of jussara pulp (P10) promoted an increase in the moisture content of the biscuits (6.4%), when compared to the control and L015 (6.0%). The results for lipids and carbohydrates were 13.8; 12.8; and 13.1 %, and 68.2; 70.4; and 69.7 %, for P10, control and L015, respectively. The mineral and protein contents showed no significant difference (p > 0.05) between the formulations. With the results obtained, it is possible to conclude that the addition of jussara pulp to biscuits modifies the technological and nutritional characteristics. Moreover, the addition of liquid pulp may be better than lyophilized pulp, once it is possible to achieve similar results without the cost of the freeze-drying process.