Desenvolvimento de produtos free from

: preparado para pães; alimento de farinha de arroz para preparação de papas

Abstract

With the increasing number of people with eating disorders, the food industry has been driving innovation and development of free from products, mainly gluten-free products, to meet consumers' needs. However, the main problem associated with this type of product is still with the sensory and nutritional deficits, in particular low fibre and protein content, which generate consumers health disorders. Being Germen - Moagem de Cereais S.A., a company committed to the innovation and continuous development of free from (gluten-free, wheat-free, dairy-free, lactose-free, soy-free and palm-free) food products, which fit the current food trends and the needs felt by the consumers, the present dissertation focused on the laboratory development of two free from food products, particularly: - Bread preparation with nutritional claims on fibre and protein; - Rice flour food for porridge preparation with nutritional claims on fibre and "No Added Sugar", aimed at children and adults. In order to perform both developments, several activities were carried out, such as: scientific research; competition analyses; formulation development, laboratory tests and respective adjustments; estimation of the final cost of formulations; nutritional composition estimation; internal sensory analyses with the quality and R&D departments; analytical validation of the nutritional composition; sensory analyses with a consumer panel through acceptability, preference and purchase intention tests in comparison with a competing product; statistical analysis of the results obtained. In general, for both developed prototypes, the sensorial analyses results of various attributes evaluated were satisfactory. For the free from bread, a good classification was obtained, which was statistically similar as the classification obtained for the competing product. These results were corroborated by the results obtained in the preference tests. Regarding the free from porridge, a sensory analysis was carried out with adults and children (target public). The sensory analysis performed with adults obtained a good rating, slightly higher than the competing product, but statistically similar. As for the results obtained in the preference test, although the developed product had a higher score, it was statistically like the competing product. As for the sensory analysis performed on children, due to the low number of children participating, no statistical analysis was performed. However, it was possible to see that the results obtained were not satisfactory, with the competing product having a better rating for this target public. Concerning the nutritional contents required to obtain the intended nutritional claims, after the analytical validation and its comparison with estimated values, a discrepancy of values was found. For the free from bread preparation, it would only be possible to claim, "High fibre content", whereas for the free from rice flour porridge preparation, it would be possible to claim "Source of fibre" and "No added sugar". In conclusion, both developments, despite needing sensory and nutritional improvements and further validation, present a good potential for eventual commercialisation.

Date of Award	11 Jan 2023
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Ema Dias (Supervisor)