부산대학교 도서관

Pequi is a native and popular fruit in Cerrado biome. The internal yellow-orange mesocarp is the ediblefraction of the fruit, but its shell (peel and external mesocarp), which comprises 80% of the fruit, is not used by the agroindustryduring fruit processing. There is a growing interest in the reduction of food loss and waste because of environmental,economic, and social impacts. So this study evaluated the chemical composition, antioxidant capacity, and in vitro prebioticactivity of pequi shell flour. Pequi shell flour was obtained from the lyophilization and milling of pequi shell. The content ofdietary fibers, oligosaccharides, sugars, organic acids, total phenolics and tannins, polyphenol profile, and antioxidant capacitywas determined in pequi shell flour. In addition, its prebiotic activity was evaluated on growth and metabolism of probioticsLactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains. Pequi shell flour has a high content of dietary fibers (47.92 g/100 g), soluble fibers(18.65 g/100 g), raffinose (2.39 g/100 g), and phenolic compounds (14,062.40 mg gallic acid equivalents/100 g). For the firsttime, the polyphenols epigallocatechin gallate, epicatechin, and procyanidin B2 were identified in this by-product. Pequi shellflour promoted greater growth of Lacticaseibacillus casei L-26 (at 24–48 h) and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12,as well as higher prebiotic activity scores than fructooligosaccharides (standard prebiotic). Pequi shell flour is rich in prebioticcompounds and has a high antioxidant and prebiotic potential. The promising results encourage its use as an ingredient withantioxidant and potential prebiotic properties to elaborate new functional foods and nutraceuticals.