Starch is widely consumed by humans as an inexpensive and stable available carbohydrate source, and much work has been performed on the structure, functionality and applicability of starches. Although conventional sources of starch, such as corn and potato, other sources with improved properties are becoming significant to allow simpler and more robust processes. The feasibility of the use of new starches, i.e., legume, seed and palm, as renewable materials for commercial application may provide cost reduction of raw material in industries. Little information is available on the structure, properties and practical applicability of non-conventional sources of starch. Thus, it is necessary that these starches be studied to obtain and report their structural parameters, information that is required to gain competitiveness in an international-scale industry. A review of properties, applications, future trends and perspectives of some new starches is presented in this review.

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RESUMO -O açaí é um dos principais alimentos da população paraense e de maior consumo per capita em 2010. A venda de açaí em Belém é realizada por diversas unidades que operam no mercado varejista. O objetivo deste trabalho foi identificar os segmentos de mercado: quitandas, microempreendedores e supermercados, a partir da análise de um conjunto de variáveis que definem as decisões dos consumidores de açaí. Utilizou-se do método stepwise da análise discriminante múltipla para estimar as funções discriminantes. Os resultados mostram que o segmento identificado com maior precisão foi o de quitandas, com 100%, seguido do segmento de supermercado com 96,5% dos casos classificados corretamente, e o segmento de microempreendedores, com 90,9%, apresentou a menor precisão no enquadramento dos consumidores. O modelo estimado apresentou elevada significância no processo de estimação, uma vez que as funções, incluindo as variáveis quantidade de açaí, renda dos consumidores, preço do açaí, qualidade do açaí, preço do peixe e preço da farinha, classificaram corretamente 95,6% dos elementos originais. Termos para indexação: Consumo de açaí, análise multivariada, escore discriminante. MULTIPLE DISCRIMINANT ANALYSIS OF THE RETAIL AÇAÍ MARKET IN BELÉM DO PARÁABSTRACT -Açaí pulp is one of the main foods in the State of Pará and of higher per capita consumption in 2010. The sale of açaí in Belém is carried out by several units that operate in the retail market. The objective of this study was to identify market segments: greengrocers, micro entrepreneurs and supermarkets, from the analysis of a set of variables that define the decisions of açaí consumers. The stepwise multiple discriminant analysis was used to estimate the discriminant functions. Results show that the segment identified with greater precision was the greengrocery, with 100%, followed by supermarkets, with 96.5% of the cases accurately classified, and the segment of micro entrepreneurs, with 90.9%, had the lowest accuracy in the consumer classification. The estimated model showed a high significance in the estimation process, since the functions with the variables amount of açaí, consumer income, price of açaí, quality of açaí, price of fish and price of flour, correctly classified 95.6% of the original elements.

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