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Valorization of the Peel of Pitaya’s Fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus) Producing Betalain-Rich Freeze-Dried Microparticles

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Abstract

The demand for natural dyes of plant origin has increased in recent years. The peel of pitaya (dragon fruit—Hylocereus polyrhizus) is a food by-product that has high concentrations of betalains and, therefore, can be a source of extraction of this pigment. Because they are very unstable, the association of betalains with protective materials tends to be interesting. The aim of this study was to produce microparticles of betalains extracted from the pitaya peel via freeze-drying, characterize the particles and apply the best formulation in a soy-based drink. Different formulations containing an extract rich in betalains and different carrier agents (maltodextrin, soy protein and xanthan gum) were produced, subjected to rheological analysis and subsequently freeze-drying. The microparticles containing 30% w/w of maltodextrin showed better physical–chemical, thermal, morphological properties and high reconstitution capacity. This treatment showed high thermal stability by thermogravimetric analysis and low moisture contents (2.31 ± 0.07%), water activity (0.29 ± 0.01), bulk density (0.35 ± 0.03 g/cm3) and hygroscopicity (5.26 ± 0.03%), a very attractive reddish color was also seen. A high reconstitution capacity of this treatment was also verified, since the wettability and solubility were high (9.00 ± 0.60 s and 84.34 ± 0.03%, respectively). These microparticles were applied in soy beverages stored at different temperatures, refrigeration and mainly freezing delayed the degradation of this pigment. In this way, it was observed that the powdered microparticles of the residue help in the stability of the betalains are a good alternative to dyes of animal origin.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the financial support of FAPEMIG - Brazil (Fundação de Amparo à pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais – Grant number: APQ-01805-21), CNPq - Brazil (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - Grant Number: 308911/2021-0), and CAPES - Brazil (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Financial Code 001). The authors would also like to thank the Laboratory of Electron Microscopy and Analysis of Ultrastructural at Federal University of Lavras for supplying the equipment and technical support for experiments involving electron microscopy.

Funding

This study was funded by CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - Grant Number: 308911/2021-0), CAPES (Coordination of Improvement of Higher Level Personnel – Financial Code 001) and FAPEMIG (Research Support Foundation of the State of Minas Gerais).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Food Refrigeration, Department of Food Science, Federal University of Lavras, P.O. Box 3037, Lavras, Minas Gerais, 37200-900, Brazil

    Jonathan Neves de Carvalho Alves, Natália Leite Oliveira, Ana Cristina Freitas de Oliveira Meira & Jaime Vilela de Resende

  2. Department of Agriculture, Federal University of Lavras, Lavras, Minas Gerais, 37200-900, Brazil

    Leila Aparecida Salles Pio

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  1. Jonathan Neves de Carvalho Alves
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JNCA: Project administration; Conceptualization; Data curation; Formal analysis; Investigation; Writing—original draft. NLO: Conceptualization; Methodology. ACFOM: Conceptualization; Methodology; Writing—review and editing. LASP: Supervision, Methology. JVR: Funding acquisition; Project administration; Resources; Supervision; Methodology, Writing—review & editing.

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de Carvalho Alves, J.N., Oliveira, N.L., de Oliveira Meira, A.C.F. et al. Valorization of the Peel of Pitaya’s Fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus) Producing Betalain-Rich Freeze-Dried Microparticles. Waste Biomass Valor 15, 1097–1111 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-023-02234-0

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