(T1330-04-20) Unveiling the Potential of Euterpe oleraceae Mart Seed Extract: Harnessing a Valuable By-Product for Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Innovations

Purpose: Euterpe oleraceae Mart., also known as açaí, is a plant native to the Amazon region (Melo, Arrivetti, de Alencar, & Skibsted, 2016). The commercially used part of açaí is the fruit pulp, yet 85% of its weight is comprised of the seed, which is mostly discarded. It is estimated that 1,000,000 tons of seed are generated annually in the Amazon region (Monteiro, Miguez, Silva, & Silva, 2019). This seed could be more effectively utilized due to its pharmacological properties, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial effects (Silva et al., 2021). Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the antioxidant activity and compounds present in açaí seed.

Methods: To extract the sample, it was macerated using 70% ethanol, followed by rotary evaporation and freeze-drying. Antioxidant activity was determined through DPPH and FRAP analyses. In addition, the presence of total phenolics, tannins and flavonoids were also characterized.

Results: The obtained sample exhibited a substantial antioxidant effectiveness of 99.17 ± 2.21% and an EC₅₀ of 9.32 mg/mL in the DPPH assay. Similarly, in the FRAP assay, the sample displayed an antioxidant capacity of 84.52 ± 4.49 mg GAE/g and an EC₅₀ of 7.80 mg/mL. The total phenolics content was quantified at 158.82 ± 24.10 mg GAE/g, whereas the tannin content and flavonoid content were determined to be 351.01 ± 0.68 mg TAE/L and 312.62 ± 12.13 mg QE/g, respectively. In other studies, açaí seeds displayed an AA% of 86.8%, while the total phenolics content was measured at 37.08 ± 8.56 g GAE/100g of the sample (Fig. 1).

Conclusion: This study presented promising results compared to other studies and given that açaí seed is a byproduct with substantial antioxidant activity and bioactive compounds, this extract can be explored in the future for incorporation into pharmaceutical or cosmetic formulations.

References: Melo, P. S., Arrivetti, L. d. O. R., de Alencar, S. M., & Skibsted, L. H. (2016). Antioxidative and prooxidative effects in food lipids and synergism with α-tocopherol of açaí seed extracts and grape rachis extracts. Food Chemistry, 213, 440-449.

Monteiro, A. F., Miguez, I. S., Silva, J. P. R. B., & Silva, A. S. A. d. (2019). High concentration and yield production of mannose from açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) seeds via mannanase-catalyzed hydrolysis. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 10939. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-47401-3

Silva, M. A. C. N. d., Costa, J. H., Pacheco-Fill, T., Ruiz, A. L. T. G., Vidal, F. C. B., Borges, K. R. A., . . . de Carvalho, J. E. (2021). Açai (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) Seed Extract Induces ROS Production and Cell Death in MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cell Line. Molecules, 26(12), 3546.

Acknowledgements: This research was funded by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), grant numbers 2022/06228-2, 2020/11333-4, 2021/00319-3, 2018/06475-4 and 2022/11241-8.


Fig 1. Antioxidant activity evaluation of açai seed (10mg/mL) using DPPH and FRAP assays. The results (mean and SD, n=3) and the EC50 value. AA: antioxidnat activity, GAE: gallic acid equivalent, QE: quercetin equivalent, TAE: tannic acid equivalent. Different letters in the same column indicate significant differences according to one-way ANOVA (p < 0.05) and Turkey's test.