Tucum is a fruit from the Cerrado (Brazil) with nutritional and technological potential for the development of derived products. However, it has not been fully characterized yet. This research aims to describe the phenolic composition of Astrocaryum huaimi fruits and to evaluate the effects of alcoholic fermentation on these bioactives. A. huaimi fruits were fermented by inoculating Saccharomyces cerevisiae to obtain a low alcoholic drink. Total phenols, total carotenoids, antioxidant activity, and phenolic compounds were measured in tucum fruit (TF) and alcoholic fermented tucum (AFT). A 300% increase in carotenoid concentration is observed after the fermentation process. Furthermore, twenty-two bioactives were identified by High Performance Liquid Chromatography-High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-HRMS), in A. huaimi fruits (12 for the first time) or its derived products. Catechol, gentisic acid, dihydrocaffeic acid, indole lactic acid, quercetin, kaempferol, isorhamnetin were only present in the beverage. Ten compounds were also quantified in TF and AFT, being the most abundant protocatechuic acid, (-)-epicatechin, 3-hydroxytyrosol and catechol. Tucum fruits and its derived fermented drink present a good array of bioactives. Fermentation can be considered a strategy to elaborate innovative products from tucum.
Pinto et al. (Thu,) studied this question.