Evaluating phenolic compounds in ethanolic extracts of cherry pit

The climatic conditions in Portugal favoured the adaptation of the cherry tree allowing its cultivation in several regions of the country. Studies made by the Portuguese Bureau of Statistics – INE 1, showed that the Portuguese sweet cherry production has an implemented area of 6,387 ha, producing 9,241 tons of this fruit. Its production extends mainly to two regions: the North (area of 3,099 ha and production of 6,586 tons) and the Centre (3,177 ha and 2,510 tons), while the rest of the country and islands accounts for only 1.6% of the cherry production. There are several varieties of cherry in Portugal, and the most important traditionally cultivated are: “Saco da Cova da Beira”, “Saco do Douro”, “Lisboeta”, “São Julião”, Big Burlat, Maring, Napoleon-big-foot and Big Windsor, being the first four varieties native from Portugal. Cova da Beira is the most important cherry production area in Portugal, either in terms of production volume, or also in area. Additionally, the evolution of technological indicators associated with culture reveals a high degree of specialization of the “new” farms, almost always associated with other fruit crops, which coexist in a very significant number of smaller farms, of a family type, that constitute the historical legacy of cherry production on the hillside north of the Serra da Gardunha. Sweet cherry seeds result from processing sweet cherry for sweets, juices and jams’ production. Generally, seeds are considered a production waste, which gains a strong interest due to the environmental aspects related to waste disposal 2. Additionally, it is well documented that production waste, such as peels, seeds, and pomace, contain high-value bioactive compounds 3. Hence, the present work investigated the extraction of some bioactive compounds from cherry pits that originate from food manufacturing industries. The waste management company Nutrofertil, located in Portugal, namely in the district of Viseu (Tondela), provided the Seeds of Sweet Cherry (SSC) for this study. The seeds were milled and dried for stability and then used for extraction with ethanolic solutions at different percentages (from 50 to 100% water v/v). Variable temperatures were also tested and the extracts were used for quantification of phenolic compounds through spectrophotometric techniques. The material was analysed to verify that it was exempt of hydrocyanic acid. Statistical techniques were used to treat the data: (a) Hierarchical cluster analysis using squared Euclidean distance and average linkage between groups method; (b) Principal component factor analysis with Varimax rotation. The results indicated that extraction at 40 ºC with magnetic stirring and using aqueous solutions of ethanol (water:ethanol ratio = 80:20, % v/v) constitute a separate cluster. Also, extracts obtained with similar conditions but for the temperature of 35 ºC constitute another isolated cluster. Factor analysis revealed a grouping structure with four clearly distinct clusters (Figure 1). Group G1 accounts for the samples with water:ethanol 80:20 (% v/v) and a temperature of 35 ºC, corresponding to the extraction of higher amounts of anthocyanins. Group G3 includes the extractions with 100% water at 70 ºC (G3), with lowest contents of anthocyanins and flavonols. The remaining groups are divergent according to the values of total phenolic compounds. In group G4 are included samples in which were quantified high values for total phenolic compounds, flavonoids, proanthocyanidins, ortho-diphenols and phenolic acids, while G2 corresponds to samples with smaller amounts of those compounds. In conclusion, investigating the extraction potential of different conditions it was allowed to optimize the experimental conditions more favourable to maximize the recovery of certain bioactive compounds, which can have multiple applications as antioxidant substances after rigorous quality control regarding possible concentrations of hydrocyanic acid.

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.19/7439

Citation

Dulyanska Y, Lima MJ, Correia PMR, Ferreira M, Fragata A, Cardoso AP, Barroca MJ, Silva A, Cruz-Lopes L, Esteves B, Ferreira JV, Domingos I, Guiné RPF. (2022) Evaluating phenolic compounds in ethanolic extracts of cherry pit. In Livro de Resumos do XVI Encontro de Química dos Alimentos: Bio-Sustentabilidade e Bio-Segurança Alimentar, Inovação e Qualidade Alimentar, Castelo Branco, pp. 405-406