ANTIOXIDANT CAPACITY AND OXIDATIVE STABILITY OF AN AVOCADO BY-PRODUCT PASTE WITH AND WITHOUT SEED

Abstract

During the harvest, processing, and distribution of avocado (Persea americana Mill.), a large amount of waste (peel, seed, and pulp) is produced, which has proven to have antioxidant properties and this by-product might be used as input within the food production chain. This study evaluates the lipid oxidation, antioxidant capacity and phenolic compounds of two pastes made with avocado by-products (with seed: PS and without seed: PWS) during 60 d stored under refrigeration. On the results obtained, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed, followed by the Tukey’s test (p ≤ 0.05). The lipid oxidation was controlled in both pastes and was even reduced during storage. In the PS, the antioxidant capacity declined, although it remained high and very similar to the PWS towards the end of the storage. The concentration of phenolic acids increased during most of the time of storage. Although PWS displayed better results with two of the analyses performed, both pastes were considered to have important antioxidant characteristics, which remained during the refrigerated storage. Due to this, its potential use in the production of foods is inferred, particularly for animals such as cattle, pigs, in aquaculture, or even in the cosmetics industry.