Avaliação Físico-Química de Frutos do Cupuí (Theobroma subincanum)

Abstract

The cupuí (Theobroma subicanum Mart.) is a wild species from the Amazon region, which belongs to the family Malvaceae and is found only in dryland forests. Its species spreads across the North of Brazil (Acre, Amazonas, Amapá, Pará, Rondônia and Roraima), in the Center-West (Mato Grosso), to the Amazon region in neighboring South American countries. Its fruits, even though they have lower economic value when compared to Theobromo cacao (cocoa), and Theobromo grandeflorum (cupuaçu), are highly appreciated by the regional population. The objective of this work was to evaluate the physicochemical and proximate composition of cupuí fruits from the community of Porto Nazaré, municipality of Alvarães, in the State of Amazonas, Brazil. The physical characteristics of the fruit such as weight, length, diameter and then weight of the pulp with the seeds. The physical-chemical composition of the pulp, pH, total titratable acidity, humidity, vitamin C, total lipids and artisanal chocolate production. Analyzes were performed in triplicates and the average data obtained from fruit analyzes were: fruit weight with skin 107.45 g, length and diameter 9.23 cm and 5.72 cm respectively. Pulp analyzes indicate a pH of 4.00 and a total titratable acidity of 4.44g of citric acid/100g of pulp. Total soluble solids (SST) for the edible part of the fruit was 12.10 °Brix, the proportion of vitamin C was 20.97 mg/100g of pulp, the refractive index of 1.7511, the amount of lipids in the seed is 12.46%, the pulp humidity is 77.4% and artisanal chocolate is produced from a mass of 50 seeds, produced a sample weighing 68.51 g. Analysis by Gas Chromatography coupled to the Pasta – CGEM, identified the presence of fatty acids from the omega group, and an excellent percentage of so-called unsaturated acids (42.32%), with oleic acid being its component majority. From this perspective, the results obtained show a strong potential for development of new food products from cupuí.