Caracterização química, físico-química, higiênico-sanitária e sensorial de açúcar mascavo produzido por sistemas convencional e orgânico

Abstract

The brown sugar is obtained from simple processing, which maintains the nutritional properties of the raw material, the sugarcane juice, almost unaltered, which raises its quality to other types of sugars, such as refined crystal . The cultivation of sugar cane takes place in two forms: the conventional farming system, which uses chemical inputs for management control, and the organic production system, which vetoes the use of synthetic materials, genetically modified organisms and ionizing radiations at any stage of production, and which is currently gaining prominence with a tendency to increase demand, linked to the appeal not only to nutritional quality and food safety, but also to environmental issues. Considering the controversies reported in many studies regarding organic versus conventional products, and the almost inexistence of this comparison in the literature applied to brown sugar, this study aimed to evaluate and compare the chemical, physicochemical, hygienic-sanitary and sensorial characteristics of samples of brown sugar produced by conventional and organic farming systems, focusing on those commercialized in the western region of Paraná. It was evaluated 11 samples, being 05 conventional and 06 organic, and characterized in relation to moisture content, pH, calcined ashes, conductimetric ashes, reducing sugars, polarity and color. They were also subjected to microscopic analysis to detect soil and foreign matter, besides the microbiological analysis of Coliformes at 45 ºC, Salmonella sp., Strict aerobic and facultative viable mesophiles and molds and yeasts. Finally, it was subjected to sensory evaluation. The results were statistically treated according to analysis of variance and, when significant difference was detected at the 5% level, they were submitted to the Tukey HSD studentized test. The chemical and physical-chemical analyzes presented variations between the results of the samples, it was verified the difficulty of standardization in the process of manufacturing brown sugar. The moisture ranged from 0.80 to 3.24%, pH between 6.03 to 8.71, ash varied from 0.35 to 2.36%, conductivity ashes from 0.88 to 6.35%, reducing glucose from 3.09 to 7.91%, polarity from 80.19 to 92.95 ° Z, and only five samples were found to comply with the legislation, above 90.0 ° Z, the only required parameter; the color showed luminosity between 44.05 to 61.72 in the Euclidean mean. Regarding the hygienic-sanitary aspect, the samples presented satisfactory results indicative of Good Manufacturing Practices, with absence of Coliforms at 45 ºC and Salmonella sp. And acceptable values of mesophiles, molds and yeasts and microscopic soils. Sensory analysis did not present a significant statistical difference (p> 0.05) between the evaluated attributes (color, visual granularity, sweet taste, characteristic aroma, mouth solubility and overall acceptance), but the consumer preference for color clearer and finer granularity of the product. The comparison between the samples on the organic and conventional systems did not allow to affirm the existence of an advantage in the nutritional quality, emphasizing the importance of developing further studies and studies on the processing of brown sugar from the crop, including the entire production chain.