Functional beverages made from Amazonian fruits

Currently, fruits such as asaí (Euterpe precatoria Mart), rich in biofunctional anthocyanin compounds and high antioxidant capacity, and copoazu (Theobroma grandiflorum), with an endocarp that imparts acidic, sweet flavors and a creamy texture, are not well-known in international commerce.
These fruits could be used in new value-added products or to increase the shelf life of the processed juice before introduction in international markets.
The present study aimed to evaluate the extraction, formulation and analysis of beverages made from asaí and copoazu using separation technologies that allow the preservation of most of the anthocyanin content and promoted sensorial acceptance.
For an effective extraction of juice from the copoazu pulp, an enzymatic treatment was used.
Then the juice was filtered in two stages to obtain a translucent product that was free from impurities.
The asaí pulp was filtered to obtain a juice free from fiber and fat, which was then pasteurized in optimized conditions (15 min at 62°C in sealed containers) to keep the loss of anthocyanins under 19.3±2%. The sensory tests demonstrated that the best ratio for optimum juice quality were proportions of asaí/copoazú (%v/v) at 70/30.

International Symposia on Tropical and Temperate Horticulture – ISTTH2016

M.S. Hernández, D.A. Revelo, R.H. Gutiérrez-Bravo, J.P. Fernández-Trujillo

anthocyanin, translucence, filtration, biofunctional, juice processing

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2018.1205.64