STABILITY OF YERBA MATE BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS IN PLANT-BASED BEVERAGES

The development of plant-based food products has advanced significantly, driven by their nutritional and functional properties and the search for alternatives to animal-derived products. This trend supports sustainability and meets growing consumer demand for diets free of animal-derived ingredients. In this context, interest is increasing in incorporating bioactive compounds into foods, especially chlorogenic acid (5-O-caffeoylquinic acid) present in yerba mate, because of its recognized health benefits, including a reduced risk of neurodegenerative diseases and modulation of glucose and lipid metabolism. However, the stability of phenolic compounds in foods remains a challenge, as their content and bioactive properties may be affected by food-matrix and processing factors such as pH, temperature, other compounds, and exposure to light and oxygen. Therefore, this study aimed to extract these compounds from yerba mate using a food-based solvent and evaluate their stability when incorporated in different plant-based beverages. The compounds were extracted using High-Intensity Ultrasound (HIUS) technology, evaluating the effects of extraction time (0.4–4.6 min) and water content (10–57% w/w) in the solvent previously developed with betaine and sorbitol at a 1:5 molar ratio. After extraction, the yerba mate extract was freeze-dried and incorporated into three plant-based beverages (almond-based, cashew-and-coconut-based, and oat-based) to evaluate compound chemical stability. The highest extraction yields were obtained using the solvent containing 50% water for 4 min. Under these optimized conditions, the developed solvent showed statistically equivalent efficiency to conventional solvents (hydroethanolic mixture) for 3-O-caffeoylquinic acid (3-CQA) extraction and higher efficiency for 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid (5-CQA) extraction. Furthermore, the phenolic compounds showed greater chemical stability in the cashew-and-coconut beverage after 24 h of incorporation. This beverage showed the highest 5-CQA retention (86%), followed by the oat beverage (58%), whereas the almond beverage exhibited the greatest loss of 5-CQA after 24 h, with only 12.5% of the compound retained. According to the literature, more alkaline conditions may favor chlorogenic acid isomerization and oxidation, while proteins, carbohydrates, and other components may interact with phenolic compounds and alter their availability. Thus, beverage composition and, consequently, pH were shown to be determining factors in the stability of yerba mate bioactive compounds incorporated into plant-based beverages.

(FAPESP - grants number #2021/12264-9, #2025/05714-9, #2026/11206-9, and #2019/ 13496-0).