Antioxidant activity of co-products from guava, mango and barbados cherry produced in the Brazilian northeast.

Co-products from the juice processing of guava (CG), mango (CM) and barbados cherry (CB) were investigated with a view to their exploitation as a potential source of natural antioxidants. The ethanolic extracts were analyzed for total extractable phenolic content (TEP), DPPH radical scavenging activity (RSA-DPPH), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and antioxidant activity in relation to the β-carotene/ linoleic acid system. The TEP levels in the CG, CM and CB extracts were (24.15 ± 1.59), (44.18 ± 1.73) and (49.21 ± 3.70) mg GAE/g extract, respectively. The CM extract showed higher DPPH, FRAP and antioxidant activity in the β-carotene/linoleic acid system. The data revealed a positive linear correlation between TEP, RSA-DPPH and FRAP (r² = 0.85-0.98); however, the β-carotene/linoleic acid system (r² = 0.01-0.26) shows low correlation with the TEP levels and other assessment systems. The results suggest that co-products generated from the juice processing of the studied fruit have promising use as a natural source of antioxidants.