Dados do Trabalho

Título

UTILIZING MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGY TO ENHANCE LYCOPENE CONCENTRATION IN WATERMELON PULP

Introdução

The demand for natural ingredients and sustainable processes challenges the industry to create innovative products. Watermelon, economically important in Brazil and consumed mainly fresh, contains lycopene, a red antioxidant pigment. Due to its high productivity and lycopene content, watermelon is a promising raw material for obtaining natural colorant and antioxidant ingredient for food formulations. This study aimed to obtain a concentrate watermelon extract rich in lycopene by using microfiltration (MF) and diafiltration (DF) processes.

Material e Métodos

MF and DF were conducted with tubular modules of alpha alumina membrane with an average pore diameter of 0.2 μm and a permeation area of 0.1 m². The concentration processes presented an average permeate flux of 56.2 kg/h/m². The process was carried out at 2 bar until the concentration factor of 1.7 was obtained. Solutes present in the juice, mainly sugars, were progressively eliminated by the convection flow of distilled water, used as a washing fluid, making the juice purer. Fresh and concentrated watermelon pulps were characterized for pH, acidity, total solids, soluble solids (AOAC,2000); ABTS antioxidant activity (Re et al.,1999), and lycopene according Perkins-Veazie et al. (2001).

Resultados e Discussão

In in natura pulp, values were 100.46 μg/g of lycopene, 8.11 ± 0,95 μmol Trolox/g of antioxidant activity, 8.1 °Brix of soluble solids, 7.03 ± 0.38 g/100g of total solids, 0.98 ± 0.16 g/100g titratable acidity, and 5.81 ± 0.06 pH. In pre-concentrated pulp, 203.35 μg/g of lycopene, 15.41 ± 0.59 μmol Trolox/g of antioxidant activity, 0.6 °Brix of soluble solids, 0.34 ± 0.10 g/100g of total solids, 0.71 ± 0.10 g/100g titratable acidity, and 5.23 ± 0.02 pH were found. Therefore, the lycopene content in the concentrated extract was twice that of the fresh pulp.

Conclusão

It can be concluded that it is possible to obtain a concentrated watermelon pulp with high levels of lycopene and high antioxidant capacity by membrane technology.