Atributos sensoriais, processos oxidativos e antioxidativos são diferenciados pelo formato de inhame (Dioscorea spp.) minimamente processado

Abstract

Minimal processing is a technique used for food that, in addition to bringing practicality to the consumer, contributes to the aggregation of the value of vegetal products, being an alternative for appreciation of neglected crops, such as yam (Dioscorea spp.), In which the cut can be an additional asset to your marketing, as with ‘babycassava’ and ‘babycarrots’. However, the yam darkens rapidly after cutting, interfering with its quality. However, yam cutting in different formats may result in differential susceptibility to darkening, not only by injury intensity, but also by keeping reserve parenchyma cells remaining on the surface of the formats. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the sensory acceptance and to study the oxidative metabolism and its histochemical-anatomical characterization of minimally processed yams in the formats ‘rodela com periderme’, ‘rodela sem periderme’, ‘cubo’ and ‘cateto’. Yam (Dioscorea spp.) roots were purchased in the municipality of Custódia-PE, and transported to the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco / Serra Talhada Academic Unit (UFRPE / UAST). The roots were minimally processed in the ‘Rodela com periderme’, ‘Rodela sem periderme’, ‘Cubo’ and ‘Cateto’ formats, maintained at 5 ± 2 ° C for 14 days. The results showed that all formats were well accepted, preferentially the ‘Rodela com periderme’ and the ‘Cateto’. It was evidenced that during refrigerated conservation, the life time of the minimally processed yam varied from 8 to 12 days in function of its format. Furthermore, it was observed that the cut injury induced physiological responses with different intensities, not only depending on the type of wound generated by the cut and additional abrasions, but also on the nature of the cut cell. Oxidative metabolism changes in intensity depending on the type of cell surface exposed in each format. It is evident that in the cells of the reserve parenchyma located on the surface, they are less responsive to the cited changes, even subjected to more aggressive injuries, such as turning. And this resulted in a delay in the browning of the ‘Cateto’ shape. All of these results contributed to the delay in browning of the abraded surfaces that gave rise to the ‘cateto’ shape. The format of the minimally processed yam, in addition to alleviating the problem of browning faced by cut yam roots, can be an excellent alternative to expand its marketing.