BEBIDA À BASE DE SOJA FERMENTADA COM KEFIR SUPLEMENTADA COM POLPA DE BOCAIÚVA (Acrocomia aculeata) E INULINA

Abstract

Soybean is an oilseed with excellent nutritional value and stands out for its high protein content. Soybean derivatives have received attention from researchers and are considered an important plant alternative in substituting food of animal origin for people with lactose metabolism deficiency. The objective of this work was to develop a fermented beverage with kefir biomass from water soluble soy extract added with macaúba palm pulp (Acromia aculeata (Jacq.) Lodd.) and inulin. The macaúba palm fruit was obtained after cooling, freezing and dehydration and evaluated for physicochemical and technological properties. Dehydrated macaúba palm pulp presented higher content of lipids, carotenoids, phenolic compounds, soluble solids, and pH value in relation to other treatments. The cooled pulp had higher vitamin C content. Frozen and dehydrated pulps presented higher antioxidant activity. The dehydrated pulp was selected to be included in the soy drink. The beverage was produced from water soluble soy extract (EHS) (9th Brix) after fermentation using kefir (4g: 100 mL) for 12 hours at 25 ° C. The drink storage was evaluated during 16 days of storage (times 0, 6, 11, and 16 days) at 7º C and 5 treatments were developed: CONT (without macaúba palm pulp and inulin addition), IN (3.5% inulin), BO (3.5% dehydrated macaúba palm pulp), BO (7% dehydrated macaúba palm pulp) and BO+IN (3.5% dehydrated macaúba palm pulp and 3.5% inulin). The beverages were evaluated for pH, titratable acidity, total soluble solids (TSS), color, syneresis, sedimentation, and microbiological count for Lactococcus, Lactobacillus, and yeast. The fermented beverage presented higher TSS consumption resulting in acid production due to the decrease in pH values in all treatments during the fermentation process. On the 11th day it presented positive values in coordinate a* for treatments BO3.5 and BO7.0. The microbial population development in the fermented beverage in the formulations showed that this substrate was great for probiotic bacteria cultivation and in all counting times was above 107 CFU mL-1.

KEYWORDS: Functional foods. Kefir. Product development