Microencapsulación de componentes bioactivos de pulpa de arazá (Eugenia stipitata) mediante secado por aspersión.

Abstract

The content of antioxidants prevents cardiovascular diseases. Araza fruit is an source of essential minerals and vitamins A, B1 and C, because of that, it is also a food supplement that regulates and balances the functioning of the body. Moreover, spray drying helps to protect compounds that have antioxidant activity and to prevent oxidation reactions. The aim of the present investigation was to microencapsulate the bioactive components of araza using spray drying in order to preserve the fruit compounds without altering their nutritional properties and in this way, to promote the consumption of antioxidants among the consumers. Different extraction conditions were used for detecting the extract with the highest content of bioactive compounds. These conditions were: ratio 1:15 pulp: water; contact time of 60 minutes and working temperature of 100 Celsius degrees. Under these conditions, a greater amount of polyphenols, flavonoids and vitamin C were obtained. Starting from this, the extract was concentrated, increasing significantly the amount of total solids. For microencapsulation, malodextrin was used as an encapsulating agent, in the same proportion of total solids as the concentrate. The drying was carried out at an inlet temperature of 140 Celsius degrees and an outlet temperature of 80 Celsius degrees, where a yield of 75.42 percent was obtained. Once the microencapsulation was acquired, the amount of bioactive compounds present was determined, getting the following results per 100g: 1,562.65 mg ac. gallic (equivalent of total polyphenols); 229.84 mg catechin (equivalent of total flavonoids) and 202.23 mg ac. ascorbic (equivalent of vitamin C).