Biotransformation of Pitanga Juice by Tannase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae CCMB 520

Abstract

The pitanga (Eugenia uniflora L.) is a native species to Brazil and widely used by Brazilian industry, mainly in food, to juice, ice cream, soft drinks, jellies and liqueurs production. The fruit contains a high concentration of anthocyanins, flavonoids and carotenoids, which make it a promising source of antioxidant compounds. The objective of this work was to produce and purify tannase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae CCMB 520, to apply in the integral pitanga juice and to verify its physical and chemical effects. The tannase was produced under submerged fermentation in bench bioreactor. After the fermentation process the enzyme was partially purified. The partially purified tannase was applied in the integral pitanga juice using Doehlert statistical design. The effect of the enzymatic application was analyzed by means of phenolic compounds contents and antioxidant activity. Physical–chemical analyzes were carried out to investigate the Standard Identity and Quality of the juice. The best results for partial purification were obtained by ultrafiltration. After application, the total phenolics content was 4855 mg Eq. AG/L, and for the antioxidant activity was 952 μMTrolox/L (69.41%). It has been found that it is possible by means of enzymatic treatment to improve the functional quality of the integral pitanga juice.