Passion fruit peel flour – Technological properties and application in food products

• The flour from the passion fruit peel has properties of food additives.
• The waste passion fruit flour can be used as hydrocolloid in food.
• The passion fruit flour can be used as stabilizing, emulsifying and thickening.
• The flour from the passion fruit can be obtained through simple procedures and low cost.

The peel of passion fruit is rich in fiber which has properties comparable to food additives. Thus, in this study, the technological properties of flour obtained from yellow passion fruit peel were determined and compared to those of five commercial additives. Two flour samples were prepared from passion fruit shells through a modified process in order to evaluate their potential use as a stabilizing agent, emulsifier, thickener and gelling agent. These characteristics were then compared to those of low and high methoxyl pectins, xanthan gum, guar gum and carrageenan. The flour samples obtained have significant stabilizing capacity, as they were able to hinder particle settling when applied to nectars. Another positive feature observed was the emulsifying potential, showing similar results to additives commonly used in mayonnaise, such as xanthan and guar gums. The flour samples also showed good properties as a thickening and gelling agent in ice cream toppings and structured fruit. The results demonstrate that flour produced from passion fruit peel can be used to replace the commercial hydrocolloids studied since, besides being obtained through simple procedures and associated with low cost, the flour samples showed similar technical characteristics with regard to their stabilizing, emulsifying, thickening and gelling power.

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