Araçaúna (Psidium myrtoides) flour: Sequential extraction with supercritical carbon dioxide and pressurized fluids

Abstract

Araçaúna (Psidium myrtoides) is a native fruit from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. It was studied for the proximate composition of its flour and sequential extraction using supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) in the first stage with CO₂ and pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) with ethanol and water in the second and third stages, respectively, at 50°C and 60°C. The proximate analysis revealed essential information about the flour regarding the content of protein, carbohydrates, lipid, ash and moisture. The sequential extraction at 60°C resulted in high yields (42.22 %). The first stage using SFE captured the volatile fraction, notably 1,4-diethylbenzene, which corresponds to 53.70 % of the total volatile compounds identified in the araçaúna. Comparing the second and third stages, the third stage with water at 50°C produced the highest levels of phenolic compounds (33.06±2.26 mg GAE/g extract), total monomeric anthocyanins (3.91±2.10 mg C3G/g extract), antioxidant activity by ORAC (415.13±13.66 µmol TE/g extract) and FRAP (747.16±18.49 µmol TE/g extract), and cyanidin-3-glucoside as the predominant compound (4.83 % w/w).