Dados do Trabalho

Título

CHARACTERIZATION OF MONO AND DISACCHARIDES IN FOOD PRODUCTS FROM BRAZIL NUT (Bertholletia excelsa)

Introdução

Brazil nut is economically important to Brazil. Its processing generates by-products that are still undervalued, such as cracked nuts, which have a relatively low commercial value. This by-product is generally processed to obtain oil and flour, which are still restricted for human consumption. Therefore, it is important to develop and characterize food products made from cracked nuts. In this study, we evaluated the sugar content (fructose, glucose, and sucrose) in a commercial sample of Brazil nut, as well as in flour and gluten-free cookies produced from this nut-based derived ingredient. Additionally, three commercial gluten-free cookies made from Brazil nut and/or cashew nut were analyzed.

Material e Métodos

About 1 g of each sample was solubilized in 10 mL ultrapure water and vortexed for 2 minutes. Sugar extraction was carried out in an ultrasonic bath at 50 °C for 20 minutes. After centrifugation at 4000 rpm for 20 min, the supernatant was filtered through a 0.45 µm PVDF filter. Sugar analysis samples was carried out by HPLC-RID (Shimadzu RID-20A). A Sugar SH1011 column at 35 °C was used, with a H2SO4 5 mmol/L mobile phase, and a flow rate of 0.6 mL/min. For the quantification of sugar content, an analytical curve was prepared with standard solutions.

Resultados e Discussão

The Brazil nut kernels presented (mg/100 g) 1.61 fructose, 2.24 glucose, and 14.65 sucrose. The Brazil nut flour, obtained after mechanical pressing of the kernels, had 4.50, 7.63, and 28.08 mg/100 g of fructose, glucose and sucrose, respectively. Cookies made with varying amounts of this flour (from 0 up to 16%) contained fructose 6.97-14.16 mg/100 g, glucose 9.17-17.27 mg/100 g, and sucrose content between 57.30 and 86.56 g/ 100 g. The commercial cookies showed higher sucrose content, ranging from 152.95 to 300.54 mg/100 g, while the glucose and fructose contents varied between 28.08-39.09 mg/100 g and 15.00-20.73 mg/100 g, respectively. It can be noticed that Brazil nut kernels present a lower sugar concentration compared to the flour and cookies.

Conclusão

The cookies developed in this study appear to be a healthier alternative to their commercial counterparts in terms of sugar content, making them an attractive option for balanced diets.