Evaluation of physical-chemical parameters cream handcrafted

Abstract

The “cream of the interior” is handicraft products on a large scale in the Northeast, without an effective monitoring, although there is a technical regulation of identity and quality of cream established in Ordinance No. 326, 1996. This study aims to determine the parameters of physical and chemical quality of samples of cream of the interior; produced, crafted and sold in Rio Grande do Norte. 30 samples were collected from shops in the city of Rio Grande do Norte-RN, and analyzed at the Laboratory of Food Technology, Federal Rural University of the Semi-Arid (UFERSA), as the acidity, pH, fat and moisture. The tests were performed in duplicate and the results averaged. Regarding the fat content 3% of the samples were outside the standards of law. The acidity was found 25 samples (83%) with values of acidity above those permitted by law. The moisture content of samples ranged from 30.12 to 57.75%. So overall, the interior cream sold in Rio Grande do Norte had a good fat, while the measure of acidity most of the samples presented high levels, may be indicative of high contamination by microorganisms fermented lactose into lactic acid or even marketing the product beyond the shelf life, with a view of the large samples obtained did not indicate the date of manufacture and expiry, which is very worrying in terms of public health.