Propriedades Bioativas, Antimicrobianas e Térmicas de frutos de Cordial dichotoma

Abstract

The fruit of the Cordia dichotoma species, originally from Asia, was introduced to Brazil by Taiwanese immigrants. Several scientific studies have reported its antioxidant, antimicrobial, and thermal resistance properties, which are of interest in the field of food science and technology. This study aimed to evaluate the bioactive, antimicrobial, and thermal properties of Cordia dichotoma fruits, assessing their potential application in food packaging. Fruits were collected in Campo Grande-MS and taken to the Food Science Unit at UFMS, where they were sanitized, separated into peel and pulp, and lyophilized. Extracts were prepared using water and aqueous solutions of ethanol and acetone at different concentrations for the extraction of total phenolics (TP) and for evaluating antimicrobial activity against microorganisms relevant to the food industry: Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli, and Listeria monocytogenes, using the disk diffusion method. Peel and pulp samples were also subjected to thermal property analysis through thermogravimetric behavior. TG/DTG curves were generated using a TGA-Q-50 thermogravimetric analyzer. The experimental design was completely randomized, and all analyses were performed in triplicate. The results for total phenolic content were analyzed by ANOVA, and means were compared using Tukey’s test (p≤0.05). Regarding bioactive properties, aqueous and 25% ethanolic extracts showed significantly higher (p≤0.05) TP extraction compared to other tested solvents, with lyophilized pulp presenting significantly higher (p≤0.05) TP levels than lyophilized peel. However, no antimicrobial activity was observed for the ethanolic and aqueous extracts against the tested microorganisms. As for thermal analysis, results indicated that the fruit is thermally stable up to 120ºC. The findings demonstrate the antioxidant potential and thermal resistance of the fruit, supporting its application in active biodegradable food packaging.