Avaliação da qualidade e determinação do desperdício de vegetais durante o pré-preparo em um restaurante universitário de um campus em expansão do interior da Paraíba.

Abstract

This study evaluates the waste during meals production steps in a university restaurant located in the interior of Paraíba, which provides student assistance, especially for students with low purchasing power. We had to evaluate the quality and determine the vegetables waste during the pre-preparation. We evaluated the processes of handling, pre-preparation and storage of foods. The data were obtained from the weighing of the post-lunch waste collected of Monday to Friday after the manipulators do the pre-preparation, ie the removal of bark, stems, etc., after being weighed showed the following results: the 594.5 kg of fruits and vegetables used in the two weeks were lost between storage and pre-preparation, 164.4 kg, accounting for 27.6% of domestic waste, with the greatest losses in the pre-preparation for lettuce (47 , 7%), and manioc (51.6%). And also was analyzed the HR of each vegetable used in salads and vegetables; of 14 evaluated, it was seen that seven are above the value recommended by the literature. The quality of the raw material, they were in their regular majority, resulting in greater losses at the time of pre-preparation. As for the cutting technique employed was mostly manual (80%), and this type of cutting tends to be slower and causes loss of the product, thus causing a great waste and loss of nutrients. For this reason that it was recommended appropriateness of the plant storage temperature; training sessions with employees, from receiving and pre-preparation of food; daily record of the time / storage temperature. Such measures seek to remedy or mitigate the waste in the unit, as it is characterized as a very important factor affecting the assessment of the quality and efficiency of services provided. The monitoring the losses during food processing as well as its causes are the main purposes of this study. The final result is intended to seek viable alternatives to reduce waste, increase the yield of preparations and thus tailor the costs involved in food production process.