The Amazon Region presents a great source of species rich in bioactive compounds, such as Euterpe oleracea (açaizeiro), Byrsonima crassifolia (murucizeiro) and Inga edulis (ingazeiro). From these matrices, purified extracts rich in phenolic content have been produced containing compounds such as flavonoids and tannins. It is known that tannins, more specifically condensed tannins (proanthocyanidins) are polymers of simple phenolic compounds, and when present in foods, are involved in the sensation of astringency due to its complexation with saliva protein, thus acting as an anti-nutrition agent. Methods have been developed aiming the depolymerization of these compounds, such as acid cleavage, because apart from promoting the reduction of astringency, studies have shown that they also contribute to increased antioxidant capacity and to promote the absorption of these compounds. It is noteworthy that, with the growing interest in monomeric phenolic compounds, tests on a pilot scale, to produce them in larger quantities, are necessary. Therefore, the aim of this study was to verify the effects of the acid cleavage of proanthocyanidins, on a pilot scale, present in the extracts of Amazonic plants, thus evaluating the phenolic content, the astringent and antioxidant capacity. In order to achieve that, the purified aqueous extracts of each plant were characterized by spectrophotometric analysis (total phenolic content, total flavonols and total flavanols, total anthocyanidins, proanthocyanidins and antioxidant capacity (DPPH)), astringency analysis and identification of the main compounds by on High Pressure Liquid Chromatography. Subsequently the samples underwent an acid cleavage with a reaction medium of 60% Ethanol, HCl 3N, in a temperature of 88 °C for 165 minutes. The purified aqueous extracts of muruci, ingá and açaí showed a high concentration of polyphenols (761.83, 493.59 and 531.55 mg GAE/g MS, respectively), as well as high concentrations of total flavanols, total flavonols, and proanthocyanidins. The process of acid cleavage promoted an increase in the content of total polyphenols and was effective in hydrolyzing the proanthocyanidins, in reducing the astringency, in increasing the antioxidant capacity as well as in obtaining subclass of compounds of anthocyanins for the three extracts. The scaling-up process resulted in no significant difference (p>0.05) regarding the cleavage held in analytical scale, for all extracts. Besides the depolymerization of proanthocyanidins, the acid treatment provides the deglycosylation of flavonoids as glycosylated quercetins (Byrsonima crassifolia and Inga edulis), glycosylated miricetins (Inga edulis) and glycosylated cianidins (Euterpe oleracea). Thus, the increase in scale of the process made possible the production of extracts rich in compounds with high antioxidant capacity which provided good indication to the possible use of these extracts as antioxidants agents in food and pharmaceutical products.
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