Effect of drying on nutritional composition, antioxidant capacity and bioactive compounds of fruits co-products

Abstract Fruit coproducts fruit, made of peels, seeds and pulp, discarded during the industrial processing, contain lots of health beneficial compounds, however, high moisture content limits its use. Drying is a low cost and great potential alternative for using. This study aimed to evaluate the phenolic compounds content, in vitro antioxidant capacity and total carotenoid, anthocyanins and vitamin C contents of pineapple (Ananas comosus), banana (Musa sp.), lychee (Litchi chinensis) and papaya (Carica papaya) peels, fresh and oven dried at 55 °C. Phenolic compounds, total carotenoids, anthocyanins, vitamin C contents and the antioxidant capacity of flours, were also significantly higher, indicating that the drying process promoted the concentration of these components, and constitute an excellent alternative to use these coproducts as a source of nutrients.