Bioactive compounds and chemical composition of Brazilian Cerrado fruits’ wastes: pequi almonds, murici, and sweet passionfruit seeds

Abstract

Pequi, murici and sweet passionfruit are typical fruits from Brazilian Cerrado, which stand out for their sensory attributes such as color, flavor and aroma, in addition to their high nutritional value. Their seeds are by-products from the industrial processing of juices, pulps, jellies, and others, and have great exploitation potential due to their high oil content and the presence of bioactive compounds. The present work aimed to evaluate the chemical composition of pequi almonds, and of murici and sweet passionfruit seeds, and also to quantify the total phenolic compounds, carotenoids, anthocyanins and antioxidant activity by the scavenging activity of •DPPH method. Concerning the chemical composition, pequi almonds presented the highest concentration of lipids (50%), followed by sweet passionfruit (30%) and murici seeds (15%). The almonds from pequi fruit showed the greatest content of protein (33.3%) followed by sweet passionfruit seeds (15%), which presented the highest amount of fiber (41.3%). Murici seeds exhibited the highest content of carbohydrates (46.4%). Pequi almonds had the greatest content of the following minerals, potassium, magnesium, sulfur, manganese, zinc, copper, iron, and sodium, and anthocyanins (14.4 mg CYG/100 g d.b.). Sweet passionfruit seeds presented the greatest amount of calcium, and also had the highest carotenoid content (9 mg/100 g d.b.). Murici seeds showed the highest potential for bioactive compounds, with 404 mg GAE/100 g d.b. and 81% of scavenging activity for the •DPPH. The results demonstrated that the studied seeds have the potential to be sources for new product development, such as oil.

Assessment of chemical, nutritional and bioactive properties of Annona crassiflora and Annona muricata wastes

“…), characteristic that is very attractive for a nourishing material once they may promote a range of health benefits to the human body, such as the assistance in the digestion and the lowering of plasmatic cholesterol (Mattos & Martins, 2000;Wu et al, 2015). Further, the content of fiber found in this study can be equated to that of passionfruit (412.4 g kg -1 ) (Araújo et al, 2018) and chia seeds (310 g kg -1 ) (Verdú et al, 2017), which are already in the food market and constantly used as source of this component by population. FNE or carbohydrate content was indirectly calculated.…”

Solvent effect on the extraction of soluble solids from murici and pequi seeds

“…The solvents used in the extraction process—ethanol (99%, boiling point of 78 °C, specific mass of 790 kg/m 3 ), isopropanol (99%, boiling point of 82 °C, specific mass of 790 kg/m 3 ), acetone (99%, boiling point of 56 °C, specific mass of 790 kg/m 3 ), and hexane (boiling point of 69 °C, specific mass of 660 kg/m 3 )—were of analytical grade from Dynamics (Diadema, Brazil). The composition of the seeds samples is presented in Table (Araújo et al, ).…”

Pequi Kernel oil extraction by hydraulic pressing and its characterization

“…The proximate composition of the pequi kernel is shown in Table 2. For pequi kernels from Caryocar coriaceum Ramos and Souza (2011) reported 2.4% ash, 48.5% lipids, 27.1% proteins and 21.9% of carbohydrates (on a dry basis), while Araújo et al (2018) reported 5.8% ash, 50.0% lipids, 33.3% protein, 5.0% fiber, and 5.7% carbohydrates. Despite the variations between the results, it can be observed that the kernel is characterized by its high lipid content, therefore being a potential raw material for obtaining edible oil.…”

“…The kernel can be used in oil extraction, as an ingredient in flour and sweets, or as a snack in salty or sweet form (DAMIANI et al, 2013;ALVES et al, 2014). Ramos and Souza (2011) reported that pequi fruit seeds (Caryocar coriaceum) from the Maranhão and Piauí regions have an average weight of 25.9 g, and its kernels are 1.8 g. Araújo et al (2018) reported proximate composition of pequi kernels (Caryocar coriaceum) as 50.0% lipids, 5.8% ash, 33.3% protein, 5.0% fiber and 5.7% carbohydrates. Lima et al (2007) found four major components in pequi kernels (Caryocar brasiliense): lipids (51.5%), proteins (25.3%), carbohydrates (8.3%) and dietary fiber (2.2 %), with a low moisture content (8.7%) and a high mineral content represented by ashes (4.0%).…”