RESUMEN
The present study aimed to differentiate Mimosa scabrella Bentham (bracatinga) honeydew honeys from blossom honeys, with and without addition of heat treatment, and bracatinga honeydew honeys adulterated with blossom honeys (5, 15 and 25% of blossom honeys), using chromatic characterization associated with chemometric analysis. Bracatinga honeydew honeys presented unusual chromatic characteristics which allowed differentiation of blossom honeys by principal components analysis. Additionally, a classification model was developed in order to establish clear rules that characterize each group of honey. The proposed model correctly classified bracatinga honeydew honey and blossom honey samples, with and without heat treatment. Only two samples adulterated with 5% blossom honey were misclassified. The chromatic analysis associated with chemometric analysis showed promising perspectives for its exploitation being able to be used for screening and selection of bracatinga honeydew honey, fresh or thermally treated as well as fraud detection.
RESUMEN
Changes in the contents of carotenoids and their true retentions (% TR) during the production of puree of Cucurbita moschata 'Menina Brasileira' and of Cucurbita maxima 'Exposição' pumpkins and the stability of such compounds during 180days of storage were monitored by liquid chromatography coupled with a photodiode array detector. Cooking caused higher losses than commercial sterilisation. High losses of xanthophylls such as lutein and violaxanthin were noted during processing and storage of pumpkin puree. Such losses show the low stability of these compounds. The major carotenoids, pro-vitamin A carotenes, namely, α-carotene and all-trans-ß-carotene for C. moschata 'Menina Brasileira' and all-trans-ß-carotene for C. maxima 'Exposição' obtained high retentions (>75%) after processing. A slight degree of isomerisation of ß-carotene was noted in the puree samples, but with low concentrations of cis-isomers. Storage for 180days did not significantly affect (P⩽0.05) the concentrations of these carotenoids.