Physicochemical Characterization, Antioxidant Capacity, and Sensory Properties of Murici ( (L.) Kunth) and Taperebá ( L.) Beverages.

Amazonian fruits are excellent sources of bioactive compounds and can be used in beverages to improve the nutritional and sensorial characteristics. The present study aimed to develop a blend of murici ( (L.) Kunth) and taperebá ( L.) through experimental design and investigating the nutritional and sensorial characteristics of fruits and beverages. The murici was highlighted as higher vitamin C content (58.88 mg · 100 g) compared to taperebá (25.93 mg · 100 g). The murici and taperebá are good sources of total phenolic compounds (taperebá 1304.15 ± 19.14 mgGAE · 100 g and the murici of 307.52 ± 19.73 mg GAE · 100 g) and flavonoids (174.87 ± 1.76 μgQE/g and 129.46 ± 10.68 μgQE/g, murici and taperebá, respectively), when compared to other Brazilian fruits. The antioxidant capacity in different methods revealed that the taperebá had a higher average in the results, only in the ORAC method and did not present a significant difference ( > 0.05) in relation to the murici. The beverage development was performed using experimental design 2, showed through sensory analysis and surface response methodology that murici and high sugar content (between 12.5 and 14.2% of sugar) influenced in sensory acceptance. Our findings indicate that beverages with improved nutrition and a sensory acceptance can be prepared using taperebá and murici fruits.