DRYING OF PEQUI (CARYOCAR SPP.): COMPOSITION, DRYING METHOD, AND FINAL PRODUCT QUALITY

Pequi (Caryocar brasiliense) is a fruit species native to the Brazilian Cerrado, with recognized nutritional, cultural, and socioeconomic importance. Its pulp is rich in bioactive compounds such as carotenoids, phenolic compounds, vitamin C, fibers, and unsaturated lipids, characteristics that confer high nutritional and functional value to the fruit. However, pequi has high perishabil-ity due to its elevated moisture content. In this context, drying the pequi pulp emerges as a viable alternative to extend the product's shelf life, facilitate transportation and storage, and expand its potential use in food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical formulations. The adoption of appropriate drying technologies enables the preservation of the fruit’s physicochemical and sensory proper-ties, maintaining its nutritional value and adding value to the final product. Therefore, this chap-ter aims to provide an overview of the technological use of pequi, with emphasis on pulp drying and its impacts on the final product’s quality. The main methods applied to pequi pulp include convective drying (hot air), vacuum drying, osmotic dehydration, lyophilization, spouted bed drying, and microwave drying. The choice of method directly influences the quality of the final product, especially regarding the retention of carotenoids and vitamin C, which are highly sensi-tive to heat and oxidation. Convective drying, although widely used due to its economic accessi-bility, may result in significant losses of bioactive compounds when performed at high tempera-tures and for prolonged periods. In contrast, lyophilization and microwave drying have stood out for their greater ability to preserve the nutritional and sensory properties of the pulp, alt-hough they involve higher operational costs. Osmotic and vacuum drying also present them-selves as viable alternatives, particularly when combined with other techniques. In addition to technical aspects, the use of powdered pequi represents a strategy to strengthen local production chains, allowing the fruit to enter new markets, such as those of functional and nutraceutical foods. Thus, drying the pequi pulp is presented as an efficient tool to mitigate post-harvest loss-es, expanding its application across different industrial sectors. The adoption of drying methods that preserve bioactive compounds is essential to maintain the nutritional and functional value of the product. However, further studies are still needed to deepen the understanding of the effects of different drying processes, their economic and technical feasibility, and the stability of the final product during storage.