Resíduos do Guabijú ( Myrcianthes pungens) como alternativa de aditivo natural rico em compostos bioativos

Abstract

Fruits generally offer health benefits if eaten regularly. The guabijú (Myrcianthes pungens) is a wild fruit with a sweet flavor and with great predominance in the southern region of Brazil. It is a round, berry-like fruit with a purple skin when ripe and a yellowish flesh. Studies have shown that guabijú is considered a fruit rich in bioactive compounds with potential for use in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetology. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate the potential of using the guabei residues as an alternative source of natural additives rich in bioactive compounds. The methodology consisted in performing a bibliometric and systemic review of the publications from the last years referring to the guabijú and the operational conditions for the extraction of bioactive compounds from it, and performing extraction experiments of the mentioned compounds present in these fruits. The physicochemical characterization and morphometry of the skin and whole fruit of the guabiu fruit were performed and the influence of the extraction conditions (type of solvent, pH and temperature), using the maceration technique, was evaluated on the content of bioactive compounds extracted from different parts of the fruit. It was observed in the fruit morphometry that the transversal diameter presented higher values than the longitudinal diameter. For the peel, the obtained moisture content was 70.09 % (w.r.) and for the whole fruit 82.16 % (w.r.). The type of solvent (water or ethanol), the extraction temperature (from 25 to 88 ºC) and the pH of the extracting solvent (1 and neutral) influenced the extraction process by maceration. It was observed that the bioactive potential of the peel was higher than that of the whole fruit. The best result for the whole fruit extract was obtained at a temperature of 88 °C and using water as solvent, obtaining 4.155 mg Cn-3-glu/g for total anthocyanins, 94.029 mg GAE/g in total phenols content and 89.65 % of antioxidant activity. The results for the peel were 3.13 mg Cn-3-glu/g for total anthocyanins, 93.96 mg GAE/g total phenols and 93.96 % antioxidant activity.