RESUMO
AÒ«ai fruit is characterized by the properties of its bioactive compounds; however, this fruit is highly perishable and its compounds are sensitive when exposed to non-optimal environmental factors. Therefore, the objective of this study was to encapsulate the fruit pulp by spray drying to improve the nutritional value and extend the shelf life of the products derived from acai fruit. Maltodextrin was used as a wall material and the process was optimized to obtain the desirable values of the response variables. For this, a central compound design (CCD) was developed to determine the influence of temperature (110-170 °C) and the wall material proportion (5-15 %) on dependent variables: the retention of ascorbic acid, moisture percentage, hygroscopicity, solubility, water activity, and yield. Furthermore, the effects of spray drying on bioactive compounds (AA, TPC, TFC, TA, TCC, GA, CT, and QC) and antioxidant activity (ABTS, DPPH, and ORAC) were evaluated. The maximum design temperature (170 °C) and wall material proportion (15 %) significantly influenced the response variables where encapsulation was applied, with high ascorbic acid retention (96.886 %), low moisture (0.303 %), low hygroscopicity (7.279 g/100 g), low level of water activity (0.255), a water solubility index of 23.206 %, and a high yield of 70.285 %. The bioactive compounds analyzed and the antioxidant capacity presented significant retention values for AA (96.86 %), TPC (65.13 %), TFC (82.09 %), TA (62.46 %), TCC (7.28 %), GA (35.02 %), CT (49.03 %), QC (37.57 %), ABTS (81.24 %), DPPH (75.11 %), and ORAC (15.68 %). Therefore, it is concluded that the powder obtained under these conditions has desirable physical properties, and the drying process preserved a notable retention of bioactive compounds and their antioxidant activities.
RESUMO
Knowledge is limited about the level of bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of seeds from bred lines of common beans developed from interspecific crosses using four different Phaseolus species (P. vulgaris L., P. coccineus L., P. acutifolius A. Gray. Gray., and P. dumosus). In this study, differences in the nutritional quality of seeds among 112 bean genotypes were evaluated by measuring the levels of phenolic compounds, pigments, antioxidant activity, and sugars. The bean genotypes were grown under high temperatures and acid soil conditions in the Amazon region of Colombia. Five typology groups of bean genotypes were identified based on the level of bioactive compounds and their functional capacity: (1) highly bioactive and functional (HBF); (2) moderately bioactive and functional (MBF); (3) moderate antioxidant content with pigment influence (MACP); (4) moderately antinutritional with limited antioxidant potential (MALAP); and (5) antinutritional, low bioactive, and functional (ALBF). We developed a nutritional quality index (NQI) with values ranging from 0 to 1 based on the nutritional and anti-nutritional balance of each genotype and the higher values of the NQI of a genotype indicating greater nutritional quality. We found three interspecific bred lines (SER 212, SER 213, and RRA 81), with NQI values higher than 0.8. These three lines belong to the typology group of HBF. The superior nutritional quality of these three interspecific bred lines is attributed to a greater level of bioactive compounds and antioxidant capacity. These three bred lines may serve as useful parents to develop nutritionally superior and stress-resilient beans from bean breeding programs. Further research is needed to explore the role of testa color in improving the nutritional quality of seeds of common bean genotypes grown under different climatic conditions.