Physicochemical and sensory analysis of common sorrel (Rumex acetosa L.)

Abstract

Common sorrel is a non-conventional vegetable of the family Polygonaceae, naturalized in Brazil and still with few nutritional and sensory studies. The aim of this work was to evaluate the physicochemical and sensory characteristics of Common sorrel, harvested at 60 days. Common sorrel was evaluated regarding the ascorbic acid content, total phenolic compounds, instrumental color: Luminosity (L*), chroma, Hue and chlorophyll. To describe the profile of the sensory attributes, 14 evaluators were used, and 52 for the acceptance test and purchase intention. Common sorrel presented 10.25 mg/100 g-1 of ascorbic acid, 290.51 mg / 100 g-1 of total phenolics and in the instrumental analysis of color, it presented L*, chroma and Hue of 49.28, 25.24 and 122.5, respectively. For chlorophyll index, 36.60 SPAD was observed. The sensory attributes described for Common sorrel using structured scale of 9 cm were: green coloration (4.6) and irregular leaf shape (4.3), aroma of grape skin (5.1), sour and bitter tastes (5.1 and 5.4 respectively), smooth texture (5.7), very thin leaf (3.3), soft texture (5.5) and flexible leaf (6.9). It was verified that Common sorrel obtained scores between 6 (liked very much) and 7 (loved it) for the acceptance of color, flavor, texture and global acceptance of the leaf. Regarding aroma, 32.7% of the scores were inferior to 4. Regarding purchase intention, 65.4% of the evaluators answered that they would certainly buy this vegetable. Although little known, this vegetable was well-accepted by the evaluators, demonstrating the potential for consumption.
 Key words: Acceptance; Color; Phenolic compounds; PANC.