Caracterização e avaliação sensorial de frutos de pitaya (Hylocereus spp.)

Abstract

The increase in the world consumption of exotic fruits favors the cultivation of pitaya, aiming to boost the culture, the knowledge of the characteristics and acceptability of the fruit are tools that allow to explore its potentialities. In this context, this work was divided into two chapters; the first was to characterize and the second to identify preferences and acceptability of Hylocereus Undatus fruits (red pitaya and white pulp) and fruits of Hylocereus Costaricensis (Pink pitaya red pitaya). In the first chapter, the objective was to evaluate the physical, physicochemical and phytochemical parameters of pitaya fruits of white and red pulp produced in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The experimental design was completely randomized, with five replications. physical, the scheme was unifatorial, however, for the physico-chemical and phytochemical evaluations the scheme was bifatorial, where in addition to species, the fruit portion was also tested. It was concluded that fruits from the H. undatus species (white pulp) obtained a longer length and, consequently, a larger fresh hull mass, for the physical parameters. Fruits of H. costaricensis (red pulp) were responsible for the highest total phenol and anthocyanin contents, which resulted in a high antioxidant capacity in these fruits compared to white pulp. In the second objective, the objective of this work was to evaluate the sensory parameters and acceptability of pitaya fruits of white pulp and red pulp produced in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. For the sensorial evaluations the design was completely randomized in a uniforms scheme, in which the factor of treatment was composed of the species with two levels H. undatus and H. costaricensis. To characterize the profile of the judges, the questionnaire was composed of structured questions grouped into four groups, sociodemographic variables, fruit consumption, pitaya information and purchase intention. For the sensorial evaluation, the judges evaluated the attributes color, aroma, sweetness, acidity, flavor and global acceptance, using a hedonic scale of nine points. Regarding the results obtained, the fruits of pitaya of the species H. costaricensis, with red peel and red pulp (Pink), obtained greater acceptance by the judges.