Desenvolvimento de papinha infantil com cupuaçu (Theobroma grandiflorum) e batata doce (Ipomoea batatas)

Abstract

The offer of complementary feeding is oriented from the sixth month of life of the child since from this age, breast milk is no longer sufficient to supply all the nutritional needs of the baby. The introduction of food occurs through a food transition process, where the supply of the first foods has its consistency modified. Currently, the food industry makes available in the market salty and fruits baby foods according to the age group of the child, however, fruit baby food is usually made with general fruits, not being found regional fruits in their formulations. The Amazon region has in its flora diversity of fruits, such as cupuaçu (Theobroma grandiflorum), a fruit native to the region and used in the elaboration of products such as jams, compote, ice cream, and liqueurs, besides presenting a high nutritional value such as vitamins, minerals and the presence of phenolic compounds. Thus, the objective of this work was to develop a fruit baby food formulation using cupuaçu, and for better consistency of the product, the sweet potatoes were used, for children in the feeding introduction phase. The work was composed of the formulation of fruit baby food; followed by physical-chemical and centesimal composition analysis, microbiological analysis, and acceptance analysis with children aged six to eight months. The physical-chemical results were 3.67 and 17.08% for pH and acidity, respectively. In the centesimal analysis, the values were 86.89 g of moisture, 0.45 g of ash, 1.77 g of lipids, 0.06 g of proteins, and 10.85 g of total carbohydrates giving an energy estimate of 59.64 kcal/100 g. There was no contamination of total/thermotolerant coliforms and Salmonella sp. during the product manufacturing process. The analysis of acceptance of fruit baby food presented the acceptance of 84%. Thus, the formulated fruit baby food proved to be a product within the microbiological standards, with good acceptance, showing to be a product with commercial potential using regional raw material.