Technological quality and sensory acceptability of nutritive bars produced with Brazil nut and baru almond coproducts

Abstract

The intake of almonds and nuts demonstrates benefits to human health due to their bioactive compounds. In Brazil, baru almonds and Brazil nuts are largely explored in communities through cooperatives. The objective of the present work was to develop and evaluate a nutritive bar with Brazil nut (BN) and baru almond (BA) byproducts at concentrations of 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% in formulations. Baru almonds showed higher protein content (24.95 g/100 g) than Brazil nuts (14.74 g/100 g), while Brazil nuts showed higher lipidic content (59.36 g/100 g). All the nutritive bar formulations could be classified as high mineral content, mainly iron, calcium, phosphorus, zinc, and magnesium. The firmness (instrumental texture) was the highest for BA100 (217.9 N), while the adhesiveness was the lowest (−23.62 N). The highest acceptability indexes for taste and texture (59 and 67%, respectively) were observed for BN25:BA75 while BA100 achieved the highest acceptability index for odor, color, and global perception (71, 73, and 72%, respectively). Therefore, BN25:BA75 could be the most suitable formulation to be produced as it had a good nutritional content balance and obtained higher acceptance and preference in the sensory evaluation.