Acerola thermophysical properties, drying and new product development.

Abstract

The work THERMOPHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF ACEROLA, DRYING AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEW PRODUCTS, materializes the synergistic effort of our team of researchers aligned with the goals established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO/UN) when it defined the Year 2021 International of Fruits and Vegetables. Producing food for a growing population requires much more than producing with sustainable practices, as distributing, preserving, and developing new products efficiently, ensuring quality, nutrition and safety is our constant concern. Thus, choosing the strategic food matrix for the development of new products is one of the first objectives when seeking to innovate the market, guaranteeing nutrition. Thus, we emphasize that investing in technologies is essential to guarantee products and improve the entire supply chain. Fruit growing is one of the fundamental sectors, especially in tropical countries like Brazil. Acerola is defined worldwide as a superfruit for its high concentration of ascorbic acid, which is one of the most important water-soluble vitamins. In addition to provitamin A, vitamins B1 and B2. The fruit has a range of phytonutrients such as phenolics, flavonoids, anthocyanins and carotenoids. Regarding the extract, many studies have shown that the antioxidant activity of acerola extract was much higher compared to extracts rich in polyphenols from other fruits, such as açaí, cherry, grape, mango and strawberry. The research carried out in each chapter of this work shows the versati lity of the fruit and its industrial potential in the development of new products. Thus, in each chapter we seek to define thermophysical properties, efficient thermal processing, mathematical modeling and new product development. We hope that the work will be an instrument of application, contributing more and more to the innovative potential of Brazil worldwide.