Anais do Simpósio Latino Americano de Ciências de Alimentos
Actas del 14 SLACA - Simposio Latinoamericano de Ciencia de los Alimentos

Aroeira (Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi), also known as pink pepper or Brazilian pepper, is a species native to South America. In addition to being widely applied as a condiment, aroeira fruit has been used by the folk medicine due to its beneficial effects on health. It presents antimicrobial, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities, which are mainly attributed to the presence of bioactive compounds. Therefore, identification and quantification of its bioactive constituents are of great importance. In this context, this study determined the total content of phenolic compounds, flavonoids, carotenoids, and anthocyanins of aroeira fruit, as well as identified its bioactive compounds by UHPLC-ESI-MS analyses. Additionally, the antioxidant capacity was investigated. Fresh and ripe fruits were collected at the Agronomy Institute of the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The fruits were selected, dried in a ventilated oven at 40 ºC for 24 hours, and ground in a domestic processor (Walita, Brazil). For analyses, an ethanol:water (70:30, v:v) extract was prepared. The total content of phenolic compounds (12.93 ± 0.03 mg GAE/g), flavonoids (4.18 ± 0.16 mg EQ/g), carotenoids (12.27 ± 0.03 μg/g), and anthocyanins (0.11 ± 0.02 mg/g) were determined by spectrophotometry. The compounds identified by UHPLC-ESI-MS were: tetrahydroamentoflavone (m/z 541), agathisflavone (m/z 537), hinokiflavone (m/z 539), 7-O-methylpelargonidin 3-O-galactoside (m/z 447), 3α-hydroxymasticadienolic (m/z 455), and gallotanin (m/z 539), which show a wide range of bioactivities such as antioxidant properties. Regarding the antioxidant in vitro analyses, pink pepper extract showed antioxidant capacity by the free radical scavenging assay DPPH (95.03 ± 0.07% inhibition) and the iron reducing power assay FRAP (58.51 ± 1.33 μmol Fe2+/g). Therefore promising results were obtained for aroeira fruit, indicating its potential as an antioxidant and advantageous application in food systems as a natural additive.