Microbiological characterization of cashew pulps produced in Brazil: A review study

Abstract

Fruits are products that bring us several health benefits and are of extreme importance for the proper functioning of our body, and are considered a good source of essential nutrients for the human body. Thus, this study aims to identify literature research that shows the microbiological evaluation of frozen cashew pulp commercialized in Brazil. The research was performed in the electronic database Scopus, with selected articles from the last 10 years, in order to evaluate the quality and safety of cashew pulps produced. For this, seven articles were obtained, where only three of them were selected to compose this research. The work showed that the high contamination by microorganisms, suggests that the initial sanitary conditions of the fruits received by the industry interfered in the quality of the final product that triggered negative consequences as the processing and storage steps were advanced. The results found for frozen cashew pulp sold in Brazil, found in the studies of (2012) and Carrenho et al. (2020) meet the minimum standard recommended by current legislation, while the study of Santos et. al (2016) showed high microbiological contamination in one of the brands analyzed characterizing unfit for consumption by high fungal contamination. Thus, the high contamination by microorganisms in one of the studies suggests that the initial sanitary conditions of the fruits received by the industry are not satisfactory.