Sustainable Encapsulation of Cambuci Bioactives via Supercritical-Assisted Atomization

Area of Science:

• Agro-industrial waste valorization
• Bioactive compound extraction and encapsulation
• Green chemistry applications

Background:

• Agro-industrial waste presents environmental challenges and missed economic opportunities.
• Cambuci fruit peel contains valuable bioactive compounds susceptible to degradation.
• Sustainable methods are needed to stabilize and utilize these compounds.

Purpose of the Study:

• To valorize cambuci fruit peel by extracting bioactive compounds.
• To encapsulate the extract using supercritical-assisted atomization (SAA) with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP).
• To evaluate the effectiveness of SAA encapsulation in preserving phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity.

Main Methods:

• Extraction of bioactive compounds from cambuci peel using 70% ethanol.
• Encapsulation via supercritical-assisted atomization (SAA) with varying extract:PVP ratios (1:2 to 1:15).
• Characterization of encapsulated particles (size, distribution) and assessment of phenolic content and antioxidant capacity.

Main Results:

• The optimal extract:PVP ratio of 1:15 yielded 72% encapsulation efficiency.
• This ratio resulted in the highest antioxidant capacity (142.83 μmol Trolox/g) and total phenolics (69.94 mg GAE/g).
• Encapsulated particles were small (1.17 μm), uniform, and showed superior stability of bioactive compounds over 5 months compared to the free extract.

Conclusions:

• Supercritical-assisted atomization (SAA) with PVP is effective for encapsulating sensitive bioactive compounds from cambuci peel.
• The process yields stable, spherical particles with enhanced preservation of antioxidant and phenolic content.
• This sustainable approach offers potential for applications in the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries, aligning with green chemistry principles.