POTENTIAL FOR USING GUARANA BY-PRODUCTS AS FUNCTIONAL INGREDIENTS

Guarana (Paullinia cupana), recognized for its stimulating and antioxidant properties, has its consumption traditionally associated with seeds. However, the processing of the fruit generates large volumes of by-products, such as peels, shells and industrially depleted seeds, which are often discarded. This study characterized the bioactive profile — caffeine, total phenolic compounds and tannins — in different parts and by-products of guarana, including seeds and peels in natura and fermented (3 and 6 days), industrially depleted seeds, powder, stick and casquilho, in order to evaluate the potential for full use of these materials. The samples were collected in Amazonas and transported to the Food Analysis Laboratory by Spectrometry of UNICAMP, where they were dried at 105 °C for 12 h, crushed and sieved at 40 mesh. The quantification of the compounds was performed by spectrophotometric methods: caffeine (chloroform extraction, reading at 274 nm), total phenolics (methanol extraction and Folin–Ciocalteu reaction, reading at 765 nm) and tannins (extraction in acidified methanol and reading at 500 nm). The analyses were performed in triplicate, with results expressed in mg/g and analyzed by Tukey's test (p < 0.05). The samples showed variations in the bioactive contents, with higher concentrations in the seeds and their derivatives, and intermediate values in the bushing. The peels and the industrial sample showed the lowest contents. Caffeine showed the highest values in seeds fermented for 6 days (26.14 mg/g), followed by fermented seeds for 3 days (23.59 mg/g) and powder (22.47 mg/g)