Converting avocado seeds into a ready to eat snack and analysing for persin and amygdalin

Rahul Permal; Tim Chia; Giada Arena; Cassandra Fleming; Jack Chen; Tony Chen; Wee Leong Chang; Brent Seale; Nazimah Hamid; Rothman Kam

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.134011

Converting avocado seeds into a ready to eat snack and analysing for persin and amygdalin

Food Chem. 2023 Jan 15:399:134011. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.134011. Epub 2022 Aug 25.

Authors

Rahul Permal¹, Tim Chia¹, Giada Arena², Cassandra Fleming³, Jack Chen⁴, Tony Chen⁵, Wee Leong Chang⁶, Brent Seale¹, Nazimah Hamid¹, Rothman Kam⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Food Science and Microbiology, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand.
² Department of Chemistry, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand; The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, New Zealand.
³ Department of Chemistry, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand; The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, New Zealand; Department of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Università degli Studi di Siena, Italy.
⁵ School of Science, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand.
⁶ Department of Biomedical Science, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand.
⁷ Department of Food Science and Microbiology, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand. Electronic address: rothman.kam@aut.ac.nz.

PMID: 36044826
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.134011

Abstract

Avocado seeds account for 13% of the waste from industrial production of cold-pressed avocado oil (CPAO). Therefore, the aim of this study was to valorise avocado seeds by converting it into an extruded snack product using a friction cooker and comparing their textural and physical characteristics to extruded brown rice and malted barley ready to eat (RTE) snacks. Concentration of toxins; amygdalin and persin were compared in extruded avocado seed and fresh avocado seeds. Avocado seed extrudates were significantly lower in lateral expansion, apparent density, porosity, hardness, and crispiness compared to brown rice extrudates. Antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content (TPC) was highest in freeze-dried avocado seeds. Antioxidant capacity and TPC of avocado seed extrudates were significantly higher than brown rice and malted barley. The concentrations of both amygdalin and persin in the RTE avocado seed snack were present at non-toxic levels (2.6 × 10^-6 mg/g and 0.68 mg/g respectively).

Keywords: Avocado seed valorisation; Friction cooker; Persin extraction; Toxins in avocado seed; Waste valorisation.

MeSH terms

Amygdalin*
Antioxidants
Fatty Alcohols
Hordeum*
Persea*
Phenols
Seeds
Snacks

Substances

Antioxidants
Fatty Alcohols
Phenols
Amygdalin
persin