Araçá Fruit (Psidium cattleianumSabine)

Araçá is a Brazilian native fruit described as having a juicy, sweet to a sub-acid pulp with a spicy flavour. The fruit are normally consumed fresh but, due to the short shelf life, are mostly processed into liquors, juices, nectars, jellies, ice cream, mousses or cakes. The species is generally resistant to disease and pests due to the environmental growth conditions. The plant’s defence system produces high amounts of secondary metabolites (phenolic compounds, volatile compounds and carotenoids) with high bioactivity. However, some of these compounds are antinutritive, such as flavonoids; therefore, a balance between their beneficial and harmful effects must be defined. Araçá processing, such as enzymatic juice production, fruit frozen for 30 days, frozen pulp+L-ascorbic acid, jellies and chewable candies have showed good results in maintaining their nutrients and phytochemicals. Araçá is described as having antioxidant, antiageing, antiproliferative, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, antithrombotic, antimicrobial and cerebral properties. Although red araçá extract showed low bioaccessibility, with 28% recovery of total phenolic content (TPC) and 5% of individual compounds remaining after in vitro digestion, its potential biological activities (antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibition) was high. In this sense, the microencapsulation of araçá pulp/extract can improve the stability of phytochemicals and antioxidants. Araçá has also been proposed as an antioxidant to biodiesel protection. In general, araçá is a fruit with a high antioxidant potential that can be applied in different areas.