Physico-chemical variability of cassava flour in the Território da Cidadania do Vale do Juruá, Acre

ABSTRACT

The flour is a processed cassava food of great dietary importance, but with little standardization due to the craft manufacturing process. The aim of this study was to analyze the variability of artisanal cassava flour produced in Território da Cidadania do Vale do Juruá, Acre, and group the producing municipalities according to physico-chemical characteristics using multivariate analysis todetermine their influence on the flour quality. A total of 138 flour samples were collected in the cities of Cruzeiro do Sul, Mâncio Lima, Rodrigues Alves, Porto Walter and Marechal Thaumaturgo. Moisture, ash, total protein, ether extract, total fiber, total carbohydrate, energy value, titratable acidity, pH and water activity were determined in the samples. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and means compared with the Tukey test. and multivariate statistics in a complementary way, hierarchical cluster analysis with Euclidean distance and Ward method, and non-hierarchical, k-means, principal components analysis with correlation matrix, and backward stepwise discriminant analysis. The results showed that the flours met the quality standards required by the legislation. The different multivariate analyzes were consistent, indicating that the physico-chemical properties of the flours have a pattern of distribution, which suggests standards in the manufacturing process distributed according to the location of the municipalities analyzed. The most influencing characteristics for flour discrimination are acidity, pH, water activity and moisture, indicating that the mode of production has great influence on the quality of the flour produced.

Key words:
product from cassava; craft; multivariate analysis