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This study aimed to determine the content of quercetin, rutin and isoquercitrin in by-products of certain fruits and vegetables sold in northeastern Brazil and propose their use as functional ingredients in food production. Skins from avocado (Persea americana Mill.), acerola (Malpighia emarginata DC.), beet (Beta vulgaris L.), cajarana (Spondias dulcis Parkinson), yellow and red onion (Allium cepa L.), guava (Psidium guajava L.), kiwi (Actinidia deliciosa (A. Chev.) E. F. Liang and A. R. Ferguson), seriguela (Spondias purpurea L.) and umbu (Spondias tuberosa Arr. Cam.) were freeze-dried and subjected to extraction with organic solvents. The extracts obtained were analysed for selected flavonoids using high-performance liquid chromatography. The highest levels of quercetin were found in red onion (19 836.11 mg·kg-1), yellow onion (4 917.11 mg·kg-1), acerola (60.28 mg·kg-1) and umbu (55.98 mg·kg-1). Rutin had high contents in cajarana (4 198.46 mg·kg-1), umbu (3 265.37 mg·kg-1), acerola (1 538.29 mg·kg-1) and yellow onion (1 362.91 mg·kg-1). Isoquercitrin was found only in red onion (1 475.76 mg·kg-1), acerola (388.46 mg·kg-1), guava (295.37 mg·kg-1) and umbu (288.91 mg·kg-1). The levels of flavonoids found may be sufficient to use them as functional ingredients and fortify certain foods with health-promoting compounds, thereby adding value to food processing waste materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] The C. ferrea is an economical and ecological important specie in Brazil. [•] The principal reserve polysaccharide (9% dry weight) of C. ferrea was characterized. [•] Its NMR study revealed a galactomannan with a 2.65 mannose/galactose ratio. [•] The rheological behavior of its solution was pseudoplastic. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Ursolic acid is a very important compound due to its biological potential as an anti-inflammatory, trypanocidal, antirheumatic, antiviral, antioxidant and antitumoral agent. This study presents the HPLC analysis of ursolic acid (UA) content in eight different Ocimum species: O. americanum L., O. basilicum L, O. basilicum var purpurascens Benth, O. basilicum var. minimum L, O. gratissimum L, O. micranthum Willd, O. selloi Benth. and O. tenuiflorum L. grown in Northeastern Brazil. In these Ocimum species, UA was detected in different yields, with O. tenuiflorum showing the highest content (2.02%). This yield is very significant when compared with other sources of UA.