Compostos bioativos em diferentes variedades de milho pipoca pré e pós processamento

Abstract

Foods that contain bioactive compounds with antioxidant potential are highly sought after today due to their health benefits. Popcorn corn is a food that is very present in the daily lives of the population, but seen negatively in diets, as it is considered caloric and low in nutrients. Compounds with antioxidant potential are present in different varieties of pigmented popcorn. The amount of compounds is mainly determined by the color of the popcorn pericarp, different colors can provide specific amounts of a certain compound, such as carotenoids and anthocyanins. The processing of grains can result in the degradation of compounds, therefore, there is a need to evaluate how these compounds react to different forms of processing, including microwaves, oil pans, airfryers and electric popcorn makers. For the development of this work, popcorn grains with yellow, white, red and black pericarp were used. Obtaining expanded popcorn was tested and standardized time, quantity and temperature for each processing. To determine the final expansion time, an interval of 5 seconds between the expansion of one grain and another was taken into account. Antioxidant activity was determined by ABTS, FRAP and DPPH methods. Total phenolic compounds and total flavonoids of popcorn were evaluated before and after processing. In fresh grains, the black variety had the highest levels of antioxidant compounds and the white variety, the lowest. After processing, there was a loss of antioxidant activity in all the analyzed varieties. Among the varieties, popcorn with black pericarp resulted in the highest levels of antioxidants found in most processing methods. The white variety showed the lowest values for most processing. The pan with oil was the form of expansion where popcorn with a higher content of bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity, small number of piruas and good expansion volume was obtained. The airfryer was the equipment that most degraded the bioactive compounds, produced the highest number of piruas and the lowest volume of expansion.