Acerola (Malpighia emarginata DC.) is a tropical fruit with a vibrant red color attributed to
anthocyanins, natural pigments, with several applications in the food, nutraceutical, and cosmetic
industries. Therefore, the suitability of acerola fruit waste for producing anthocyanin colorants by
dynamic maceration was investigated. The extraction process was optimized by combining the factors
time (2–90 min), temperature (20–90 C), and ethanol percentage (0–100%) in a central composite
rotatable design (CCRD) coupled with response surface methodology (RSM). The extraction yield
determined by a gravimetric method and the levels of cyanidin-O-deoxyhexoside and pelargonidin-Odeoxyhexoside
anthocyanins quantified in the 20 run extracts by HPLC-DAD were used as dependent
variables. After fitting the experimental data to a quadratic equation, the obtained statistically valid
predictive models were used to determine optimal macerating conditions. Under global settings
(25 min processing at 41 C with 12% ethanol), the extraction yielded 57.1% (w/w) and each gram of
extract contained 2.54 mg of anthocyanins. Overall, this study highlights the renewable potential
of acerola fruit waste for obtaining natural anthocyanin extracts that could represent a sustainable
alternative to artificial colorants used in food and other products.
This research was funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through
the Regional Operational Program North 2020, within the scope of Project GreenHealth, Norte-
01-0145-FEDER-000042. The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology
(FCT, Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) to CIMO
(UIDB/00690/2020 and UIDP/00690/2020) and SusTEC (LA/P/0007/2021). The authors are also to
FCT for the research contracts of J. Pinela (CEECIND/00831/2018), E. Pereira (2021.03908.CEECIND),
and L. Barros (CEEC Institutional). C. Caleja is grateful her contract through the project VIIAFoods
(PRR Aviso n.º de agenda: C644929456-00000040).
