Elaboração de produto farináceo a partir da algoraba (prosopis juliflora (sw) D.C).

Abstract

The mesquite (Prosopis juliflora (Sw) DC) was brought from the desert of Piura to Brazil in 1942 with the purpose of affording arid regions in the process of desertification and assisting in animal feeding, currently it is also used in the artisanal production of cachaças and wines, human food in the production of flour, breads, cakes, biscuits and sweets and in the production of bioethanol. Drying is a procedure used in the dehydration of food in order to extend the shelf life of certain products such as flour. The objective of this work was to obtain farinaceous product originated from the algaroba pods, by two different drying methods, microwave oven (FMO) and air circulation oven, for later use in food products. The experiments were carried out in the Laboratory of Biochemistry and Biotechnology of Food of the UFCG/CES, with pods of mesquite harvested from the gardens of the university itself. The oven drying was done at a temperature of 60° C for 660 minutes and drying in FMO was done using 50g of sample in 5 cycles of 2 minutes and 1 cycle of 1 minute, totaling a time of 11 minutes, using potency of 40%. With the results, it was verified that the farinaceous products obtained presented water content according to the Brazilian legislation and parameters of crude protein, pH, total soluble solids and fixed mineral residue that corroborate with the values found in the literature. Obtaining the farinaceous product from the algaroba pods in FMO is an affordable, inexpensive and efficient process, since this operation provided advantages related to the drying time and energy used, as well as a product of interesting appearance and high protein content.