Nutritional quality of the epicarp and mesocarp flours of baru fruits submitted to drying

ABSTRACT Baru (Dipteryx alata Vogel) is a native tree of the Cerrado. The drying and milling process can be an alternative for the use and conservation of baru fruits. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of drying on the nutritional characteristics of the epicarp + mesocarp flour of baru fruits. The fruits were collected in the municipality of Santa Helena de Goiás, Goiás, sanitized and submitted to drying in an oven with air circulation at temperatures of 40, 60, 80 and 100 ºC until they had a constant mass. The analyses were performed in triplicate and the results evaluated by analysis of variance and Tukey test (p ≤ 0.05). Flours produced from dehydrated fruits had a reduction in lipid content (treatments 100 °C), energy value (60 and 80 °C), pH, soluble solids, apparent specific mass and carotenoids in relation to the control sample, and high values of acidity, antioxidant activity and total phenolics. FTIR analysis showed nutrient loss.