Consumo de frutas típicas da região maranhense em escolas públicas no município de Fortuna - MA

Abstract

The Brazilian Northeast has a great diversity of native and exotic fruit species well adapted to its edaphoclimatic conditions, representing a great socioeconomic potential, both for the internal and external market for the commercialization of fresh fruit, as well as for industrialization. In this way, the objective was to evaluate the consumption of typical fruits of the Maranhão region among students from public schools in the municipality of Fortuna - MA and to draw a discussion about the importance of the consumption of typical fruits by the local population. The research was conducted in three public schools in the city of Fortuna-MA. Two (2) municipal schools corresponding to elementary education and one (1) secondary school were chosen, both located in the urban area of the municipality. The data collection stage took place in two ways: (i) visit the schools to choose and learn about them and (ii) use a structured questionnaire, containing 7 (seven) closed questions aiming to collect information about the preference, consumption and acquisition of typical fruits found in the city by public school students. The target audience of this study consisted of students from the 9th year of elementary school at Edson Lobão and Mariano Martins schools and from the 1st year of high school at Centro de Ensino Estado do Rio de Janeiro school. Each school has two classes of each year with an average of 35 students per class, and only one class of each year is selected for the application of the questionnaires in non-probabilistic random sampling. Thus, 30 questionnaires were applied in each school, totaling 90 questionnaires applied. In general, students present knowledge about the main typical fruits sold in the municipality, with most introducing them in their diet. The frequency of consumption occurs on a larger scale, daily and weekly for both elementary and high school students. The participants pointed out that they purchase the fruits, when consumed, at open markets and on the trees of each fruit tree, however, their consumption occurs mostly in natura and in the form of juices and wines. The study indicated that students have preferences for fruits that are more easily acquired by the region and have sweeter flavors. However, although they are consumed by the students, the daily consumption of fruits remains below the recommended by the WHO. This makes room for the consumption of exotic fruits in our country, commonly produced on a large scale, for reasons of good adaptation and public acceptance