A TRANSFORMAÇÃO DE ORA-PRO-NÓBIS (Pereskia aculeata Miller), PLANTA ALIMENTÍCIA NÃO CONVENCIONAL, EM INGREDIENTE PARA A INDÚSTRIA DE ALIMENTOS

Abstract

Unconventional food plants (PANCs) are edible plant species that are not part of the usual menu of the population majority. Pereskia aculeata Miller, known in Brazil as “ora-pro-nóbis”, is a species that has significant nutritional value, among which we can highlight proteins, fibers, vitamins and minerals. Also, it presents therapeutic activity being used for treatment of anemia, osteoporosis, skin wounds and inflammatory processes. Although it has great productive potential, with good adaptation in environments with a high state of alteration and disturbance, and with soil without nitrogen fertilization, high nutritional value, medicinal properties and regional gastronomic value, it is still little explored and known by the population due to changes in eating habits, competitiveness in the market with conventional plants, reduced availability in the market and non-commercialization, and limited information on nutritional properties. It requires greater dissemination and encouragement of research in order to verify the possibilities of industrial applications and/or on a smaller scale increase the variety of foods for human consumption. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of convective drying of ora-pro-nóbis leaves submitted to temperatures of 35, 45, 55, 65 and 75ºC on the chemical, thermal, technological characteristics and quantification of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of obtained flour. The Midilli and Valcam models were the ones that fit to describe the drying kinetics of ora-pro-nobis leaves. Regarding the analyzes carried out, the flours showed significant amounts of moisture (8.71 to 12.96 g 100 g), proteins (3.45 to 18.82 g 100 g), fibers (43.32 to 58.62 g 100 g), reduced water activity in the case of flours obtained from drying at 55 ºC (0.52) and 65 ºC (0.59), total phenolic compounds (709.67 to 1224.08 mg EAG g-1), as well as characteristics that allow its use as a functional ingredient for the food industry, such as adequate fat absorption capacity and good rates of absorption and solubility in water. It was concluded that the mathematical model proposed by Midilli is, among those that were tested, the one that best fits the experimental data on the drying kinetics of ora-pro-nobis leaves, and that it is still possible to use ora-pro-nobis flour as a food ingredient for the production of products with regular consumption, in addition to being a low-cost strategy to increase nutrient intake and promote the exploration of a new food.