Coprodutos de lichia: aplicação tecnológica das farinhas, extração de óleos e microencapsulação do extrato obtido da casca

Abstract

Agroindustrial wastes from bark and seeds are usually rich in fiber and bioactive compounds. The use of flour production stands out among the various alternatives already available to avoid the improper disposal and waste of usually non-consumable parts (peel and seeds) of fruits. The chemical composition of lychee bark and seed meal (FCSL) suggests its nutritional and functional potential as well as its potential for exploitation by the food industry and use in the human diet. Thus, the use of waste from lychee cultivation meets today's appeal for the development of healthier products. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the quality of flour and oil obtained from peel and seed from lychee to verify the effect of adding flour to hamburgers and cookies, analyzing their physicochemical, nutritional and sensory characteristics and the microencapsulating process extracted of lychee bark, aiming to stabilize its anthocyanin pigments, using maltodextrin, gum arabic and combinations as wall materials. Flours made from lychee residues presented high levels of dietary fiber, higher levels of lipids and proteins when compared with fresh residues, besides having a high vitamin C content and high antioxidant capacity. The oils obtained from the lychee bark and seeds were distinguished by the presence of the important essential fatty acids, linoleic and linolenic. The incorporation of FCSL in beef burgers contributed to the increase of dietary fiber content, antioxidant capacity and minerals such as potassium, copper and iron. The addition of lychee seeds flour in cookies contributed to the increase of insoluble dietary fiber content, antioxidant capacity and mineral composition. The addition of FCSL in food products adds nutritional value and functional potential, as well as reducing environmental impacts caused by improper disposal of agro-industrial waste. It was observed that the microencapsulation of the extract obtained from lychee bark showed protective effect of anthocyanins during the evaluated period, despite the storage temperature, since the percentage of loss was lower in the microencapsulated powders when compared with the concentrated extract. Among the different used wall materials, maltodextrin promoted greater retention of antioxidant capacity in three of the evaluated methods and also lower percentage of total loss of total anthocyanins in the stability test. Therefore, it was possible to obtain bark microcapsules with antioxidant capacity and anthocyanin stability from the extract of lychee.