Desenvolvimento de bebida à base de café adicionada de concentrado protéico de soro: da pesquisa mercadológica à avaliação sensorial

Through the application of marketing research, the profile of consumers of coffee and their motivations for the consumption of the drink were studied. The results showed that there is a segment of market consisting mainly of youth and the need of developing new products using coffee as ingredient. Also, there is the interest of consumers to buy functional foods. Thus, a pasteurized milk drink, having a coffee flavor, added with whey protein concentrate (WPC) was developed. A basic formulation was developed, consisting of sugar, cocoa, WPC, carrageenan and aroma of coffee. Four concentrations of extract of coffee (0.7%, 1.0%, 1.3% and 1.6%) were added to this formulation, resulting in four final product formulations. The analysis of pH and acidity of the formulations showed that there was no significant difference between samples, during storage. The results of the microbiological evaluation showed that all formulations meet the requirements of legislation and, in combination with the sensory evaluation, the expiration date or the shelf-life of the pasteurized and refrigerated product was determined in 20 days. The compositions of the formulations were similar and also met the requirements of the Technical Regulation of Identity and Quality of Milky Drink, of Ministério da Agricultura. The results of sensory analysis permitted the choice of a formulation of the final product, which was the 1.3% of coffee extract one. By the analysis of factors, a package of the drink was developed, having 200 mL size, named "chocolate and coffee" without the information "decaffeinated". Finally, it was performed the final evaluation of the product in two sessions (blind test and packaging information) to evaluate the influence of the proposed packaging. The results demonstrated that the product had great market acceptance. The evaluation scores were found between hedonic terms, being "I liked moderately" and "I liked very much in the blind test. There was positive influence of the package in the acceptance of the consumers, in the sensory test with the package, since it helped to increase the scores given by the people who tested it. These scores changed for the hedonic terms "I liked a lot" and "I liked extremely". This way it was concluded that there was success in the process of developing the product, from its formulation to the construction of the final package.