Establishing a standard for handmade Brazilian cassava flour from Baixada Cuiabana (Mato Grosso, Brazil) to support its processing and sale

Abstract

The Baixada Cuiabana region contains the confluence of the Brazilian Savannah, Amazon and wetlands biomes. This region brings together small producers of cassava who prepare dry flour by hand, maintaining a bank of active ethno-varieties of this crop and that are of cultural, social, economic and genetic importance. This study aimed to establish a standard for the flour currently being processed and marketed. Thus, 26 samples were collected from seven municipalities of the region. At the time of this sampling, the predominant standard of the handmade cassava flour produced in Baixada Cuiabana was Dry group, Medium class, yellow-colour, of Types 1, 2 and 3. Using the Hunter Lab colour system, the predominant colour was found to be yellow with red or green tonality, with one sample artificial colorant. Consumers recognize granule size and colour as the main parameters that determine purchase of the product. Seven samples from four municipalities were classified as Dut of Type, because they presented values in disagreement with legislation that could result in difficulties in valorisation and sale in the legal market.

Fast and non‐destructive determination of simultaneous physicochemical parameters of Manihot esculenta flour using FT‐NIR spectroscopy and multivariate analysis

“…All samples presented a yellowish coloration ( h ab ≈ 90°) due to the presence of carotenoids in cassava roots (Sant’Anna et al ., 2013). In some cases, this yellowish colour is improved with the addition of synthetic dyes (Oliveira et al, 2019).…”

Ancestral fermented indigenous beverages from South America made from cassava (Manihot esculenta)

“…In South America, cassava fermentation for obtaining alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages is part of its ancestral legacy, due to its cultural, economic and social importance. The name and the form of preparation that the beverages acquire depend on the country or region that produces them (Oliveira et al, 2019).…”

Processing and quality of the cassava flour produced by traditional communities in the Central Amazon Region – Brazil

“…In Brazil, cassava our occupies the second place as the main product obtained from root, followed by the starch extracted in industries [3,5]. Nevertheless, data from the last Household Budget Survey -POF 2008/2009, show a reduction of 31.4% in consumption when compared to data from 2002/2003, placing it in the batch of "inferior products" (income increase generates consumption decrease) [6].…”

“…There are ongoing research intending to add and assign value to Brazilian cassava our, and investigations aimed at their gastronomic employment are highlights [14,15,16,5]. These perspectives warn of the need of new studies on Brazilian cassava our to elucidate and demystify fundamental points about food safety [17,18,19,20,5].…”