EXPLORING THE ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL OF CUSTARD APPLE FRUIT (ANNONA SQUAMOSA): PERSPECTIVES FOR APPLICATION IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY

Custard apple (Annona squamosa L.), a member of the Annonaceae family, has high nutritional value and is recognized as a potential source of bioactive compounds, including phenolics, alkaloids, and acetogenins. Among these compounds, phenolic acids and flavonoids are particularly relevant because of their ability to neutralize oxidative reactions, which are associated with quality deterioration in foods and with biological oxidative stress. Although previous studies have investigated the antioxidant potential of A. squamosa, most of them have focused on isolated fruit fractions, such as pulp, peel, or seeds. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of the whole fruit, considering all anatomical parts together. Total phenolics were determined using the Folin–Ciocalteu method, and antioxidant activity was assessed by DPPH, ABTS, and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. The hydroethanolic extract (HEE; ethanol:water 70:30, v/v) and ethanolic extract (EE) were evaluated, as well as hexane (HP), dichloromethane (DP), ethyl acetate (EAP), and hydromethanolic (HMP) partitions obtained from EE. HEE showed the highest total phenolic content (5310.0 mg GAE/100 g extract), followed by EAP (2890.0), DP (2160.0), EE (1020.0), and HMP (400.0), whereas HP showed no detectable phenolics. Antioxidant capacity was positively correlated with total phenolic content. The most active samples were HEE and EAP, which showed DPPH radical scavenging activities of 92.8% and 92.5%, FRAP values of 8945.0 and 7785.0 µmol TE/100 g extract, and ABTS values of 8713.0 and 8127.0 µmol TE/100 g extract, respectively. Although liquid-liquid partitioning enriched phenolic compounds in EAP and DP, this increase was not sufficient to surpass the antioxidant activity observed for HEE. These results suggest that whole A. squamosa fruit is a promising source of natural antioxidants with potential applications in different segments of the food industry.