Multi-block analysis for the correlation of physico-chemical and rheological data of 42 fruit pulps.

The common dimension (ComDim) chemometric method for multi-block analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were used to evaluate the data obtained from the physico-chemical and rheological characterization of 42 commercial fruit pulps. The physico-chemical characteristics and the rheological behavior of the pulps were found to be considerably different. The Herschel-Bulkley equation was fit to the steady-state flow curves of the fruit pulps, and it was found to appropriately describe the materials, which showed a wide range of yield stresses. The soluble solids content and the yield stress were the main factors responsible for the sample discrimination in the multivariate statistical analysis. The ComDim model indicates that these parameters may have a direct correlation. Namely, the soluble solids amount can influence the viscosity, as demonstrated by the similar scores of the samples in both common components, and this corroborated with the HCA analysis. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Fruit pulps can be used as raw materials in the food industry to obtain several products, such as nectars, jellies, ice creams, and juices, which can also be sold directly to consumers. To evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of those industrial processes, it is important to know the physico-chemical properties of the products. Therefore, in this study we attempt to correlate the physical-chemical and rheological data using a new statistical approach.