Combined clarification and sensory evaluation of cashew juice (Anacardium occidentale L.)

Objective. Obtain clarified cashew juice, in order to sensorially evaluate clarified and optimized juice and establish chemical differences between the integral and the clarified juice. Materials and methods. The pseudo fruits were manually separated from the nut and were selected and washed, then scalded and the juice was extracted. The natural juice and the most accepted one were chemically characterized. Juices submitted to sensory evaluation (acceptance) with a 9-point hedonic scale and a test system for 30 tasters. A three-level factorial design combined with response surface methodology was used. The chemical characteristics of juices were analyzed by Levene’s test for homogeneity of variances and T-Student test for comparison of means for independent samples. Results. The evaluated juices displayed no statistically significant differences (p?0.05, p?0.01), but the highest percentage of acceptance was for the juice treated with 0.20% w/v Rapidase® CX and 14.27 hours at 30°C, differences were statistically significant for pH, °Brix, reducing sugars and ascorbic acid (p?0.05), furthermore, the content of ascorbic acid was significantly reduced by 41.01% compared to the initial juice. Conclusions. The clarified juice with high vitamin C content, obtained by enzymatic treatment, is a way of agro-industrial use of the pseudo fruit, having been accepted for consumption, and non-astringent, with good flavor, aroma, by treatment with 0.20% w/v Rapidase® CX and 14.27 hours at 30°C.