Abstract
Tuckeroo (Cupaniopsis anacardioides) is an Australian native tree, possessing high level bioactivity and antioxidant activity. To prevent deterioration of active constituents, appropriate drying practices must be determined. This study comparatively evaluates the impact of a range of drying methods including freeze-, microwave-, vacuum-, hot air- and sun-drying on the physical, phytochemical and antioxidant characteristics of Tuckeroo fruit. Experimental results showed that the five drying methods had significant impact on the physicochemical properties and antioxidant activity of the fruits. Of the drying methods assessed, freeze drying best preserved Tuckeroo activity, recording higher total phenolic content (TPC) (81.88 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g), total flavonoids (TFC) (107.71 mg catechin equivalent (CAE)/g), proanthocyanidins (TPro) (83.86 mg CAE/g) and exhibited the strongest antioxidant capacity. However, vacuum drying at 65 kPa, 100 °C for 5 h is recommended for drying Tuckeroo fruits for further processing in a large scale as it also retained high levels of TPC, TFC and TPro (58 mg GAE/g, 91 mg CAE/g and 74 mg CAE/g, respectively).
Highlights
Australian flora is both abundant and diverse because of the variability found in climatic zones, which range from temperate to arid tropical
Impact of Microwave Drying on Physical, Phytochemical and Antioxidant Properties of Tuckeroo Fruits
The results reveal that the optimal microwave drying conditions for retaining most of total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), total proanthocyanidin content (TPro) and antioxidant activity of Tuckeroo fruits were irradiation for 6 min 10 s at a power of 7 min 10 s ± 0.05 a 7 min 10 s ± 0.05 a 6 min 10 s ± 0.02 b
Summary
Australian flora is both abundant and diverse because of the variability found in climatic zones, which range from temperate to arid tropical. The Tuckeroo plant belongs to the Sapindaceae family [6], which includes other medicinal plants such as Dimocarpus longan and Litchi chinensis, which are used extensively in China, Taiwan, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam [7,8]. These summer fruiting species possess high bioactivity and antioxidant capacity and are commonly eaten by fruit eating birds such as Australasian figbird, olive-backed oriole and pied currawong [6] and can be consumed by humans [9].
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