Escurecimento, composição centesimal, qualidade culinária e análise sensorial de variedades crioulas de feijão-caupi sob diferentes tempos de armazenamento

Abstract

The cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) is consumed as green or dry grains. It is an important component of the basic diet in rural and urban areas, especially in the Northeast region of Brazil. Moreover, it holds cultural, social, and economic significance for family agriculture. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate landraces of cowpea, cultivated in traditional communities in the State of Ceará, regarding browning, proximate characterization, culinary quality and sensory profile (CATA, RATA and grain acceptability tests). The work was carried out in laboratories at the Federal University of Ceará (UFC), Campus of Pici, in which four landraces and two control cultivars were evaluated. The data on enzymatic activity, proximate composition, culinary quality and sensory analysis were subjected to analysis of variance and the means were compared using the Tukey test at 5% significance. The Cochran's Q test was performed for the CATA test, in the sensory analysis, to identify significant differences between the samples, and multiple comparisons between the means, using the McNemar (Bonferroni) procedure at 5% significance. The activity of the enzyme polyphenol oxidase (PPO) was not affected by storage time in the Epace 10 and Urbano genotypes. As for peroxidity (PER), it increased over six months of storage. The six genotypes in question have high protein content (22.01-23.10%), energy content (60.11-63.12%) and low fat content (1.24-1.41%). Regarding culinary quality, the Creole Paulistinha variety had a greater hydration capacity of the grain both before and after cooking. The 30-minute cooking time was the best that adapted to the varieties. In the sensory analysis, the cultivar Epace 10 and the Creole variety Rabo de cobra stood out the most and presented the highest acceptance averages by the judges, on the other hand, the cultivar BRS Potengi obtained a low sensory acceptance. The Rabo de cobra variety can be taken forward in participatory breeding programs in traditional communities in the State of Ceará.