The great variability of the Brazilian acerola orchards results in fruits with yellow to red color, producing a light colored acerola pulp which is not as appealing as full red pulp. Anthocyanins are unstable pigments, responsible for red color in mature acerola. In order to examine some pigment degradation in frozen pulp acerola, it was installed a randomized experiment. Pulps obtained from 12 accesses (plants) of Germoplasm Active Bank from Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE) were stored (-18°C) for 6 months. Total anthocyanins were determined in randomized samples (30g) collected at the beginning and end of the experiment, using spectrophotometer method. Great variation on the total anthocyanin content was observed in the studied accesses. At time zero of storage the lowest and highest level of this phytochemical were 3.79 mg and 59.74 mg 100 g-1 of pulp, respectively. After 6 months of storage, a reduction of 3.4 % to 23.6 % on content of these pigments were shown. The storage at -18ºC for six months reduced the anthocyanin content. The anthocyanin pigments of accesses 08 and 13 were the most stable during frozen storage.
acerola; anthocyanins; freezing
