EFFECT OF PROCESS VARIABLES IN THE EXTRACTION OF ANTHOCYANINS FROM JAMUN FRUIT

Abstract: Quality and quantity of pigments in food are essential in commercial acceptance and the jamun fruit is a source rich in anthocyanins, a potential natural dye that has aroused interest. The objective of this work was to verify the influence of the input variables (V1 - ethanol 70% and 100%), temperature (V2 - 25 and 65°C) and time (V3 - 15 and 45 min) in the bath (V4 - 6 and 24 h) and pH of the extract (V5 - 2 and 3) of jamun fruit in response anthocyanins concentration (mg/100 g sample) extracted from the fruit, using a 25 full factorial design (32 experiments + 4 central points). For this, the fruits with the bark and without the lump were weighed and homogenized in the solvent extractor, at a ratio of 1:2 (w/v). The pH was corrected and the mixture was subjected to the temperature-controlled bath for a certain time after being maintained at 5°C, following the experimental conditions of the test. After that, the mixture was vacuum filtered and an aliquot was subjected to the spectrophotometric reading at 525 nm for the quantification of total anthocyanins. With 95% confidence, the variables V1, V2 and V4 were statistically significant, as well as the interactions V1xV2, V1xV4 and V1xV5. V1 as well as V4 exerted a positive effect on the concentration of anthocyanins in the extract, which increased with the increase of these variables. The interactions V1xV5 and V1xV4 also exerted a positive effect on the response. However, the variable V2 exerted a negative effect, whose increase reduced the concentration of anthocyanins and the same was identified for the interaction V1xV2. For extraction with 100% ethanol at 25°C, remaining for 24 h under refrigeration, a mean anthocyanin concentration of 40.6±2.7 mg/100 g sample was obtained.