What is it about?
Seriguela (Spondias purpurea L.) is a tropical fruit naturally rich in health-promoting compounds, but many of these compounds become unavailable during digestion. In this study, we fermented seriguela pulp with the probiotic yeast Saccharomyces boulardii to investigate whether fermentation could improve its nutritional and functional properties. We evaluated changes in phenolic compounds, aroma-related volatile compounds, antioxidant activity, probiotic survival, and the stability of these bioactive compounds during simulated gastrointestinal digestion.
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Why is it important?
Fermentation increased the total phenolic content by 49%, enhanced key bioactive compounds such as gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, and rutin, and substantially modified the fruit's aroma profile by increasing fruity esters. More importantly, while non-fermented pulp lost about 70% of its phenolic compounds during digestion, the fermented pulp showed an 18% increase after digestion, indicating improved bioaccessibility. The probiotic yeast also remained at functional levels (>7 log CFU/mL) throughout simulated digestion, demonstrating that fermented seriguela can serve as an effective non-dairy probiotic carrier. These findings highlight fermentation as an effective strategy to enhance both the nutritional value and functional potential of tropical fruits.
Perspectives
This work demonstrates how probiotic fermentation can transform underutilized tropical fruits into value-added functional ingredients. Future studies should evaluate consumer acceptance, shelf life, in vivo health effects, and industrial-scale production. This approach also opens new opportunities for developing sustainable plant-based probiotic foods while promoting the valorization of Brazilian biodiversity.
Dr Ruann de Castro
Unicamp
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Biotransformation of seriguela (Spondias purpurea L.) pulp by Saccharomyces boulardii: modulation of phenolic and volatile profiles, antioxidant capacity and gastrointestinal stability, Food Research International, October 2026, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2026.119912.
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