Caracterização comparativa de diferentes cereais de pequeno-almoço

Abstract

This internship is part of a project carried out between Cerealis Produtos Alimentares and School of Biotechnology of Portuguese Catholic University and its main goal was a detailed characterization of 5 breakfast cereal references produced at the Cerealis breakfast cereal production center (in the Trofa city), and the 5 market-leading competitor references of each of the 5 references. Breakfast is considered by health professionals and nutritionists as the most important meal of the day. Thus, according to the literature, breakfast cereals are the choice of at least 50% of the Portuguese population. Thus, according to the literature, breakfast cereals are the choice of at least 50% of the Portuguese population. Thus, an in-depth study of the nutritional, physicochemical, and sensory characteristics of the 10 breakfast cereal references was developed in this internship project allowing a better understanding of possible improvements in breakfast cereals in order to make this food the healthiest and closest to the consumers’ preferences. In addition, the quantification of various physicochemical parameters was performed to obtain parameters that can be used as target values, to facilitate and standardize the quality parameters used during the production of breakfast cereals. Two references, A and B, were analyzed for each of the breakfast cereals: two extruded samples, namely chocolate petals and honey stars, one co-extruded sample, milk pillows, and two laminated samples, multigrain and Corn flakes. Children, young adults, and adults preferred reference B chocolate petals due to their better appearance, taste, and texture. All age groups also preferred reference B honey stars because of characteristics like a larger appearance, sweeter taste, and softer texture. However, reference A milk pillows were favored because of their clearer appearance and better taste. As for multigrain B cereals, 68% of the participants preferred them for appearing more natural, being sweeter, and having a crunchier texture. Reference B Corn flakes were also preferred for their crunchy texture and a "popcorn" flavor, i.e., a less noticeable corn flavor because they are sweeter. The work carried out allowed us to draw useful information that responds to the goals for this project. In the future, it would be important to review some of the parameters in a larger sample to obtain more reliable results.

Date of Award	18 Oct 2023
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Margarida Bacelar Oliveira Santos (Supervisor) & Ana Maria Gomes (Co-Supervisor)