Stability Kinetics of Anthocyanins of Grumixama Berries (Eugenia brasiliensis Lam.) during Thermal and Light Treatments
Elivaldo Nunes Modesto, Mayara Galvão Martins, Gustavo Araújo Pereira, Renan Campos Chisté, Rosinelson da Silva Pena
Abstract
Grumixama (Eugenia brasiliensis Lam.) are red-colored fruits due to the presence of anthocyanins. In this paper, anthocyanin-rich extracts from grumixama were submitted to different temperatures and light irradiations, with the aim of investigating their stabilities. The thermal stability data indicated that a temperature range from 60 to 80 °C was critical to the stability of the anthocyanins of the grumixama extracts, with a temperature quotient value (Q10) of 2.8 and activation energy (Ea) of 52.7 kJ/mol. The anthocyanin-rich extracts of grumixama fruits showed the highest stability during exposure to incandescent irradiation (50 W), followed by fluorescent radiation (10 W). The t1/2 and k were 59.6 h and 0.012 h−1 for incandescent light, and 45.6 h and 0.015 h−1 for fluorescent light. In turn, UV irradiation (25 W) quickly degraded the anthocyanins (t1/2 = 0.18 h and k = 3.74 h−1). Therefore, grumixama fruits, and their derived products, should be handled carefully to avoid high temperature (>50 °C) and UV light exposure in order to protect the anthocyanins from degradation. Furthermore, grumixama fruits showed high contents of anthocyanins that can be explored as natural dyes; for example, by food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. In addition, the results of this study may contribute to the setting of processing conditions and storage conditions for grumixama-derived fruit products.