Análise sensorial e pesquisa de mercado sobre o potencial de comercialização de pitaya no município de Parauapebas-PA

Abstract

The consumption of exotic fruits has shown a wide increase in recent years, expressing interest in commercial scale, both for producers, as for consumers, domestic and foreign. Among the exotic fruits with great commercial potential is the red pitaya (Hylocereus costaricensis), a rustic fruit of the cactus botanical family, native to the tropical forests of America, known worldwide as Dragon Fruit or Dragon Fruit. Considering the innovative character of pitaya in the fruit market, the present work had the objective of analyzing the degree of acceptance and potential of commercialization of the fruit in the municipality of Parauapebas-PA. The research was carried out by means of 400 sensorial analyzes and the application of 400 questionnaires in places of great circulation of people where socioeconomic data were collected, opinion about the characteristics of the fruit and degree of knowledge about its benefits, and these data were tabulated in spreadsheets where descriptive statistics and cross data correlations were generated. The main results were positive, and no socioeconomic factors were found that would inhibit the commercialization of the product, since the fruit pleased both males and females and people from the most diverse income ranges, highlighting that more than 50 % of the local population stated that they had a high or very high interest in exchanging the consumption of another fruit per pitaya. In addition, it was found that the commercialization of pitaya has as a greater challenge to make the population know the fruit itself and its benefits, since more than 60% of those interviewed did not know the fruit and its main benefits.