Development of Brazilian coconut sugar: obtaining, process improvements and application in carbohydrate and brazilian fruit based products with a natural and clean label appeal

• Grant number: 23/09996-3
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Start date: May 01, 2024
• End date: April 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology - Food Technology
• Agreement: SEBRAE-SP
• Principal Investigator: Kazumi Kawasaki Ramos
• Grantee: Kazumi Kawasaki Ramos
• Company: Mombora Indústria e Comércio de Alimentos Ltda
• CNAE: Fabricação de açúcar em bruto ; Fabricação de produtos alimentícios não especificados anteriormente
• City: São Paulo
• Pesquisadores principais: Letícia Korin Moretti
• Associated research grant(s): 24/04238-6 - Development of Brazilian coconut sugar: obtaining, process improvements and application in carbohydrate and brazilian fruit based products with a natural and clean label appeal, AP.PIPE
• Associated scholarship(s): 24/18323-5 - Brazilian coconut sugar development: production, process improvements and application in products based on Brazilianfruits, sources of carbohydrates with natural appeal and clean label, BP.TT

Abstract

Brazil is the third-largest fruit producer in the world, with an enormous variety of unconventional and still relatively unknown species, offering great potential for exploration. New species both arouse consumer curiosity and can be an additional source of income for local producers. Processing and obtaining products from these fruits are ways to preserve and market them for a longer period. Developing products with these lesser-known fruits is of utmost importance to make their flavors known and, consequently, to increase demand and incentivize their production. The present research aims to continue the development of products obtained in the proof of concept (POC) carried out and brought to the market in phase 1 equivalent (PIPE). In the POC, a partnership with Esalq/USP for the study of native fruits and the development of fruit products was initiated in February 2020. In addition to characterizing different fruits from Brazilian biodiversity, fruit pastes, nuts, and sugars were developed. The objective was to create products with a clean label appeal, made from Brazilian fruits, as a natural alternative to a product in the supplement market: carbohydrate gel. The vast majority of carbohydrate gels commercialized in Brazil lack a natural and clean label appeal, often containing artificial flavors and preservatives in their compositions. In summary, the development progressed to the creation of the startup Mombora, which, after research and validation with consumers, decided to launch the product in July 2021, initially with 4 products and now with 12 products in the lineup. Among the ingredients used in the formulations of all products, coconut sugar is the only one not obtained from national production; it is imported from Indonesia. Despite Brazil's prominence in the global coconut production scenario, there are no national coconut sugar producers. Additionally, the coconut sugar that arrives in Brazil has the sensory disadvantage of tasting like caramel and occasionally burnt. Therefore, besides the opportunity to nationalize this ingredient, the project's main objective is to significantly improve its sensory characteristics, mainly flavor and aroma, as well as standardization and availability of the coconut sugar used. This improvement also represents an opportunity for products currently using imported sugar. To address uncertainties in the development of coconut sugar and its application in Mombora's product line, a project was designed, including tests with different raw materials and methodologies for coconut sugar processing, as well as the necessary material resources and human resources to make the development feasible (1 grant for the lead researcher PE-2 and 2 grants for technical training TT-2). Through the development of this project, the goal is to obtain methodologies for coconut sugar processing, starting from different raw material conditions and applying various dehydration technologies. In this way, it is expected that this ingredient can gradually be incorporated into Mombora's product portfolio and validated with current customers. This will enable the commercialization of products with better sensory quality, enhance customer loyalty, increase the average transaction value and customer base, thus boosting the company's competitiveness and potentially opening doors for the commercialization of pure coconut sugar in both the B2B and B2C markets in the future. (AU)