Abstract

Ready-to eat foods meet the demands of a modern lifestyle and the number of people seeking food that is convenient and safe is increasing. The extracts of peels from four different fruits were tested as potential value-added foods to offer to consumers. Physical and chemical analyses of the peel extracts were conducted to measure total phenolic compounds, tannins, phytic acid and antioxidant activity using the 1’-1’Diphenyl-2’picrylhydrazyl, and 2,2’-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid methods. The result of screening the antioxidant activity showed that the pomegranate peel had higher activity than the other peels (p<0.05). In addition, flavonoids and vitamin C were measured in the pomegranate peel, and low amounts of these components were found. The pomegranate peel had a high amount of phenolic compounds and high levels of antioxidants, and this peel was used to enrich a commercially-available juice. Furthermore, the sensory evaluation showed no difference between the control and enriched juice. The product was well accepted and feasible from a technological standpoint. Because the waste is rich in bioactive compounds, value is added to the final product, as these antioxidant compounds are known to protect health and improve the quality of life of the consumers.

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