Desenvolvimento e caracterização de bebidas à base de soro de leite

Abstract

The growing demand for functional foods, rich in nutrients and produced in a more sustainable way, drives the search for innovations in the food industry. In this context, the industry has adopted the development of whey-based dairy products aimed to valorize this by-product, but also to offer a food with significant nutritional potential and low-cost production The aim of this study was to develop whey-based beverages from different species (goat, buffalo and bovine) with added fruit pulps (strawberry, cocoa and soursop) or plant-based flours (açaí, beetroot and hibiscus), and to characterize the sensory profile, physicochemical and microbiological characteristics of the beverages. Initially, the technical feasibility of adding strawberry, soursop and cocoa pulp to the beverages was investigated using parameters such as pH, microbiological analyses and sensory profile. Subsequently, five treatments were developed, including a commercial control and an experimental one, adding açaí, beetroot and hibiscus flours, and were characterized through sensory acceptance tests, JAR, CATA and purchase intention. Therefore, the beverages with the highest and lowest acceptance score were subjected to an evaluation of the effect of the information on consumer perception. The influence of different proportions of flours addition on pH, microbiological activity, instrumental color, syneresis and water retention capacity (WRC) was also evaluated. The results of the technical work (Article 1) indicate that the addition of fruit pulp decreased (p < 0.05) the pH, and increased (p < 0.05) the acceptance of the beverages compared to the control treatment. In the second experiment (Article 2), the treatments with 100% cocoa were penalized in the aroma and sweet flavor attributes, and no significant effect (p < 0.05) was observed on the acceptance of the beverages based on the information received by consumers. In the third experiment (Article 3), the addition of flours (p < 0.05) decreased the pH and syneresis, nevertheless increased the color parameters (L*, a*, b* and C*) and the WHC on day 1 of storage. Furthermore, the addition of beet flour inhibited bacterial growth. In this sense, it can be concluded that the addition of fruit pulps and flours of vegetable origin in the production of whey-based beverages was efficient, due to the increase in their acceptance, easy production and technological properties.