Thesis (Msc Food Sc (Food Science))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / Carob (Ceratonia silliqua) is an evergreen, drought resistant tree of Mediterranean origin. Popularly known as St John’s bread, the carob pod has a long history of use in food (over 4 000 years). Carob has a good nutritional value, a long shelf-life (2-3 years) and it is relatively cheap. Due to its high sugar content, carob is naturally sweet. It also has a nutty chocolate-like flavour, but unlike chocolate or cocoa, carob does not contain any caffeine, thiobromine or oxalic acid. In addition, carob is normally regarded as a healthy food because of its low fat content (0.2 – 2.3%). Carob trees are also found in South Africa, especially in the Western Cape Province. Locally, carob trees have been used mainly ornamentally or as a source of animal fodder, with minimal use of the pods as a nutritious food source. Knowledge of the nutritional composition and the overall nutritional potential of locally (South African) grown carob cultivars is also limited. Carob could potentially be used as an alternative food source in South Africa as currently, most of this nutritious product goes to waste each year. In this study, the feasibility of using carob pods as an alternative source of food in South Africa was investigated. This was done by firstly, analysing the cultivars for proximate composition (moisture, carbohydrates, sugars, dietary fibre, protein, polyphenols, fat and ash) as well as for amino acids, fatty acids and minerals, in order to determine and compare their nutritional contents. Five cultivars (Tylliria, SFax, Aaronsohn, Santa Fe and an “Unknown” cultivar) were examined. The average proximate composition of raw carob pods was 8.17 – 9.56% moisture, 89.57 – 91.12% carbohydrates, 40.69 – 54.74% total sugars (33.70 – 45.09% sucrose, 1.79 – 4.95% glucose and 1.80 – 5.19% fructose), 29.88 – 36.07% dietary fibre, 3.07 – 4.42% protein, 2.58 – 3.08% polyphenols, 0.45 – 0.86% fat and 2.13 – 2.69% ash. Seven essential amino acids were present in all the cultivars, except for methionine which was not detected in the Single unknown cultivar. This study has shown that all the cultivars had good long-chain fatty acid (LCFA) proportions in terms of the saturated to polyunsaturated fatty acid (SFA: PUFA) and n-6 to n-3 ratios. The short-chain fatty acid content of the cultivars was low. All nine minerals (calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, sodium, manganese, iron, copper and zinc) analysed for in this study were detected in all five carob cultivars and all cultivars were very low in sodium. The impact of various roasting times (45, 60 and 75 min) at 150ºC, on the temperature sensitive components such as sugars, protein and fat, was also examined. Roasting had no significant (P>0.05) effect on the fat content. Although roasting significantly (P<0.05) reduced the sugar and protein content from 54.74 to 32.53% and 3.59 to 3.18%, respectively, levels in both raw and roasted carob still represented a potentially nutritious food source and alternative to cocoa. A variety of food products targeted at the various food market sectors were developed with carob as an ingredient. The formulations for five new food products (bread, porridge, breakfast cereal, mousse and milk-based drink) were developed where carob had successfully been incorporated as an ingredient. Microbiological and consumer sensory analyses carried out showed that all products developed were safe and acceptable. The findings of this study provide useful scientific evidence towards the fact that carob could potentially be used as an alternative food source in South Africa.

O Processo de Desenvolvimento de Produtos (PDP) é considerado a essência da criação de novo conhecimento na empresa. Os investimentos e esforços em gestão que visam à melhoria da capacidade criativa, da tomada de decisão e do emprego de melhores práticas, tendem a elevar o nível de competência dos recursos humanos, intervindo, conseqüentemente, no resultado final do produto. Esta dissertação apresenta um modelo conceitual de integração de ferramentas de auxílio ao PDP com aplicação no setor alimentício, com vistas a enfatizar a utilização destas de maneira associada, considerando alguns princípios da Gestão do Conhecimento (GC). Este modelo foi construído utilizando a estrutura base de um modelo referencial de PDP para a indústria de alimentos. Para a alocação no modelo proposto, algumas ferramentas foram selecionadas na literatura para o setor e, posteriormente, foram analisadas sob a ótica da criação do conhecimento. A relação existente nesta dissertação entre o PDP e a GC é relevante para elucidar a importância de criar, utilizar, compartilhar e registrar o conhecimento que faz parte da memória organizacional e que, normalmente, existe dentro da empresa de forma não estruturada. Neste contexto, as ferramentas de auxílio ao PDP podem servir como conversoras do conhecimento, transformando-o de tácito para explícito, e reciprocamente. Após o desenvolvimento do modelo, o mesmo foi validado junto à gerência do setor de P&D de uma empresa, comprovando-se a sua exeqüibilidade e facilidade de aplicação e benefícios associados ao PDP. Também foi possível comprovar a existência da relação entre a exeqüibilidade do modelo, o nível de maturidade da empresa e o investimento em capacitação. / The Product Development Process (PDP) is the essence of new knowledge creation in any industry. There is no doubt that the human resources’ abilities and expertise are improved by investments and efforts towards projects that bring higher levels of creative capacity, decision making support and better procedures implementation support. And it’s clear that improving the human resources’ level of competence interferes in the final product result. The present dissertation shows a tool integration conceptual model that assists PDP especially in the food industry. One of the main ideas is to emphasize the tool’s application in an associated manner, considering some Knowledge Management (KM) principles. This model was built based on a PDP’s referential model for the food industry. Some tools were selected from the food industry’s literature in order to allocate the tools in the proposed model. After, the tools were analyzed with a knowledge creation point of view. The relation between PDP and KM showed in this dissertation is important to explain the relevance of creating, using, sharing and registering the knowledge, which is a corporate memory’s part that usually exists in the industry in a non-structured way. In this context, the PDP’s tools are able to convert the knowledge, turning it from tacit into explicit and reciprocally. The Research and Development Department’s manager of a confidential company validated the proposed model. According to the interviewing results, it was considered that the model is executable, easy to apply and its use brings advantages to the PDP. Also, it was evident that there is a relation among the model’s application, the company’s maturity phase and the investments in the employee’s capabilities.

O Processo de Desenvolvimento de Produtos (PDP) é considerado a essência da criação de novo conhecimento na empresa. Os investimentos e esforços em gestão que visam à melhoria da capacidade criativa, da tomada de decisão e do emprego de melhores práticas, tendem a elevar o nível de competência dos recursos humanos, intervindo, conseqüentemente, no resultado final do produto. Esta dissertação apresenta um modelo conceitual de integração de ferramentas de auxílio ao PDP com aplicação no setor alimentício, com vistas a enfatizar a utilização destas de maneira associada, considerando alguns princípios da Gestão do Conhecimento (GC). Este modelo foi construído utilizando a estrutura base de um modelo referencial de PDP para a indústria de alimentos. Para a alocação no modelo proposto, algumas ferramentas foram selecionadas na literatura para o setor e, posteriormente, foram analisadas sob a ótica da criação do conhecimento. A relação existente nesta dissertação entre o PDP e a GC é relevante para elucidar a importância de criar, utilizar, compartilhar e registrar o conhecimento que faz parte da memória organizacional e que, normalmente, existe dentro da empresa de forma não estruturada. Neste contexto, as ferramentas de auxílio ao PDP podem servir como conversoras do conhecimento, transformando-o de tácito para explícito, e reciprocamente. Após o desenvolvimento do modelo, o mesmo foi validado junto à gerência do setor de P&D de uma empresa, comprovando-se a sua exeqüibilidade e facilidade de aplicação e benefícios associados ao PDP. Também foi possível comprovar a existência da relação entre a exeqüibilidade do modelo, o nível de maturidade da empresa e o investimento em capacitação. / The Product Development Process (PDP) is the essence of new knowledge creation in any industry. There is no doubt that the human resources’ abilities and expertise are improved by investments and efforts towards projects that bring higher levels of creative capacity, decision making support and better procedures implementation support. And it’s clear that improving the human resources’ level of competence interferes in the final product result. The present dissertation shows a tool integration conceptual model that assists PDP especially in the food industry. One of the main ideas is to emphasize the tool’s application in an associated manner, considering some Knowledge Management (KM) principles. This model was built based on a PDP’s referential model for the food industry. Some tools were selected from the food industry’s literature in order to allocate the tools in the proposed model. After, the tools were analyzed with a knowledge creation point of view. The relation between PDP and KM showed in this dissertation is important to explain the relevance of creating, using, sharing and registering the knowledge, which is a corporate memory’s part that usually exists in the industry in a non-structured way. In this context, the PDP’s tools are able to convert the knowledge, turning it from tacit into explicit and reciprocally. The Research and Development Department’s manager of a confidential company validated the proposed model. According to the interviewing results, it was considered that the model is executable, easy to apply and its use brings advantages to the PDP. Also, it was evident that there is a relation among the model’s application, the company’s maturity phase and the investments in the employee’s capabilities.

O Processo de Desenvolvimento de Produtos (PDP) é considerado a essência da criação de novo conhecimento na empresa. Os investimentos e esforços em gestão que visam à melhoria da capacidade criativa, da tomada de decisão e do emprego de melhores práticas, tendem a elevar o nível de competência dos recursos humanos, intervindo, conseqüentemente, no resultado final do produto. Esta dissertação apresenta um modelo conceitual de integração de ferramentas de auxílio ao PDP com aplicação no setor alimentício, com vistas a enfatizar a utilização destas de maneira associada, considerando alguns princípios da Gestão do Conhecimento (GC). Este modelo foi construído utilizando a estrutura base de um modelo referencial de PDP para a indústria de alimentos. Para a alocação no modelo proposto, algumas ferramentas foram selecionadas na literatura para o setor e, posteriormente, foram analisadas sob a ótica da criação do conhecimento. A relação existente nesta dissertação entre o PDP e a GC é relevante para elucidar a importância de criar, utilizar, compartilhar e registrar o conhecimento que faz parte da memória organizacional e que, normalmente, existe dentro da empresa de forma não estruturada. Neste contexto, as ferramentas de auxílio ao PDP podem servir como conversoras do conhecimento, transformando-o de tácito para explícito, e reciprocamente. Após o desenvolvimento do modelo, o mesmo foi validado junto à gerência do setor de P&D de uma empresa, comprovando-se a sua exeqüibilidade e facilidade de aplicação e benefícios associados ao PDP. Também foi possível comprovar a existência da relação entre a exeqüibilidade do modelo, o nível de maturidade da empresa e o investimento em capacitação. / The Product Development Process (PDP) is the essence of new knowledge creation in any industry. There is no doubt that the human resources’ abilities and expertise are improved by investments and efforts towards projects that bring higher levels of creative capacity, decision making support and better procedures implementation support. And it’s clear that improving the human resources’ level of competence interferes in the final product result. The present dissertation shows a tool integration conceptual model that assists PDP especially in the food industry. One of the main ideas is to emphasize the tool’s application in an associated manner, considering some Knowledge Management (KM) principles. This model was built based on a PDP’s referential model for the food industry. Some tools were selected from the food industry’s literature in order to allocate the tools in the proposed model. After, the tools were analyzed with a knowledge creation point of view. The relation between PDP and KM showed in this dissertation is important to explain the relevance of creating, using, sharing and registering the knowledge, which is a corporate memory’s part that usually exists in the industry in a non-structured way. In this context, the PDP’s tools are able to convert the knowledge, turning it from tacit into explicit and reciprocally. The Research and Development Department’s manager of a confidential company validated the proposed model. According to the interviewing results, it was considered that the model is executable, easy to apply and its use brings advantages to the PDP. Also, it was evident that there is a relation among the model’s application, the company’s maturity phase and the investments in the employee’s capabilities.