Optimization of the Spray‐Drying Process for Developing Jabuticaba Waste Powder Employing Response Surface Methodology

The objective of this work was to obtain spray‐dried extract from seeds and peels jabuticaba (Myrciaria cauliflora) with optimized properties. To optimize the spray‐drying process, a 3³ Box–Behnken design was used, in which the independent variables were the inlet drying air temperature (x₁, 100–120C), feed flow rate (x₂, 3–5 mL/min) and spray nozzle air flow rate (x₃, 40–50 L/min). The dependent variables were ellagic acid content, total flavonoid content, total phenolic content, antioxidant activity, water activity and moisture content. Only flavonoid content and moisture content were influenced by none of the independent variables in the ranges studied. Using the desirability function, the optimum conditions for obtaining spray‐dried extracts for the responses (with significant effects) were inlet drying air temperature of 120C, feed flow rate of 3 mL/min and spray nozzle air flow rate of 50 L/min. Under these conditions, the results from the verification were 0.0844 ± 0.0013% for ellagic acid content, 16.27 ± 0.63 % for total phenolic content, 0.176 ± 0.02 for water activity and 54.45 ± 0.92% for antioxidant activity, which were in good agreement with the predicted values. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: This paper gives a report on the reuse of the vegetal wastes obtained from jabuticaba fruits – Myrciaria cauliflora (peels and seeds), which can be considered a raw material with several chemical compounds with biological activities. So, this work aims to arrive at the possible industrial application in the spray‐drying process to obtain an intermediary product from jabuticaba wastes. Furthermore, surface response methodology (SRM) was employed to determine the influence of the most important spray dryer parameters on the physicochemical properties of M. cauliflora spray‐dried extracts. Based on the results obtained from SRM and in biological activities known for this species, the spray‐dried extracts exhibited a great potential for use in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical fields.