UTILIZATION OF ACEROLA FRUIT AS A SOURCE OF POWERFUL ANTIOXIDANT FOR ENRICHMENT OF SOME PROCESSED FOODS [

Four stages of maturity acerola fruits (Malpigh-ia glabra L.) namely green, mature green/yellow, pale red and ripe mature were analyzed in fresh and dried at 50˚C under vacuum. Also, fresh fruits were used to prepare jam and mixed with different ratios of fig fruit. Results showed that protein con-tent was gradually decreased from 1.12 for green to 0.82% for ripe mature stage of acerola, while, the titratable acidity was decreased gradually with increasing the maturity stage while, the pH and soluble solids were gradually increased. The high-est percentages of reducing and total sugars were observed for pale red stage and the lowest were showed in green stage. Also, ascorbic acid was higher in green/yellow mature while in pale red and ripe stages were lower. Phenolic compounds were analyzed by HPLC in acerola fruit. The detected phenolic compounds were gallic, protocatechuic, catchein, catechol, chlorogenic, caffeic, syringic, ellagic, ferrulic, coumarine and cinnamic in both fresh and dried acerola. The green/yellow maturity of acerola extract recorded the highest percent of total antioxidant activity (74.46 %) while the lowest total antioxidant activity was observed in the ripe mature acerola (20.75%). Sensory evaluation of jam prepared from acerola and mixed with fig 1:1 recorded the highest scores compared to other prepared jams. Meanwhile, the content of ascorbic acid and total antioxidant activity were increased by increasing the percent of acerola fruit