Study of the stability and rheological behavior of the pulp of bacuri (Platonia insignis Mart.)

Abstract

The present work aimed to study the physical-chemical properties, stability and rheology of the natural and diluted pulp of bacuri (Platonia in-signis Mart.). The pulp was characterized through chemical and physical analyses. The study of stability involved the evaluation of the sedimentation index and turbidity, in addition to rheological properties at 10, 35 and 60 oC. The results showed that bacuri pulp represents an important source of dietary fiber, with a greater protein content and antioxidant activity than other bacuri genotypes. The rheological data were adjusted by the Power Law model, indicating that the pulp in natura and diluted consistencies pre-sents a non-Newtonian behavior of the pseudoplastic type. As expected for fruit pulps, an inverse relation-ship was found between the consistency index and the temperature, as well as a direct relationship between the consistency index and the soluble solids content.