Microbiological and sensory evaluation of Jambu (Acmella oleracea L.) dried by cold air circulation

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the microbiological and sensory quality of the Jambu (Acmella oleracea L.) in natura and dried by cold air, and the determination of its drying curve. The microbiological analysis were performed to Salmonella spp, the coagulase-positive Staphylococcus, and coliforms in the both Jambu samples, at 45 °C. Tacacá, the typical food dish of Pará state, Brazil, has showed good consumer global acceptance in the sensory evaluation of Jambu in natura (score of 8.00 ± 1.46) and dried (score of 8.67 ± 0.66). Both samples, Jambu in natura and dried by cold air, were by the current legislation regarding the microbiological aspects, this is the absence of Salmonella spp, coagulase-positive Staphylococcus <1×10 1 CFU/g, and coliforms <3 MPN/g, at 45 °C. Thus, considering sensory and health aspects, the commercialization of dried Jambu becomes viable, facilitating its transportation and handling, as well as for reducing its vegetable mass.Keywords: Jambu; Acmella oleracea; dehydration by cold air; sensory acceptability.Practical Application: Considering sensory and health aspects, the commercialization of dried Jambu becomes viable.

Comparison of powdered and fresh jambu (Acmella oleracea)

“…Some studies on jambu properties can be found in the literature, such as Barbosa et al (2016b), who evaluated the occurrence, extraction, chemistry and biological activity of spilanthol, a chemical compound present in jambu, besides technological studies such as: Barbosa et al (2015), who investigated freeze-drying of jambu; Araújo et al (2015), who evaluated the mathematical modeling and effective diffusivity of fresh jambu leaves during drying; Gomes et al (2018), who evaluated the drying kinetics of crushed mass of jambu, its effective diffusivity and activation energy; and Barbosa et al (2016a), who evaluated the microbiological and sensory quality of jambu (Acmella oleracea L.) after freeze-drying. However, these studies have not investigated the potential of obtaining jambu powder through convective drying.…”

“…The major changes in the Brazilian vegetable market have favored the increase in the number of prepared or semi-ready products for greater practicality of consumption. According to Barbosa et al (2016a), the increasing interest of consumers in healthier products, made of plant raw materials, and the need for improving postharvest technologies to preserve quality in the long term, given the need for transport and commercialization in several markets, cities or even countries, demonstrates the need for simple and inexpensive processes that allow extremely perishable raw materials to be preserved. One alternative is to use the technology of artificial drying and, for this process, the vegetable needs to be put under controlled conditions of temperature and relative humidity.…”

Drying kinetics of crushed mass of ‘jambu’: Effective diffusivity and activation energy

“…'Jambu' has high water content and is perishable. Thus, it requires the application of postharvest technologies to preserve its quality for long periods, allowing for transport and commercialization in markets of other regions (Nascimento et al, 2013;Barbosa et al, 2016).…”

Physical characterization and description of the drying period with constant rate of jambu leaf paste

“…In the literature there are some studies on jambu, such as that by Neves et al (2019), who characterized jambu and evaluated the effects of the boiling process on its chemical composition. Barbosa et al (2016) studied jambu (Acmella oleracea L.) after freeze-drying microbiologically and sensorially and Gomes et al (2018) studied the drying kinetics of the crushed mass of jambu leaves. However, there are no reports on the influence of temperature on the physical and physicochemical quality of jambu powders.…”