## 2 Results and Discussion
### Bioactive Compounds  
The levels of bioactive compounds in the pulps and in the blend are shown in Table 2. The pulps showed a significant presence of bioactive compounds, especially the acerola pulp, which showed the best results for most parameters, except lycopene. High values of total phenolic compounds and ascorbic acid are verified in the samples and among the pigments. Despite the apparently red color of the pulps, carotenoids stand out followed by anthocyanins, with lycopene showing low levels. As for ascorbic acid (AA), all evaluated samples differed statistically from each other (\(p<0.05\)) and had high levels indicating that they were rich in AA. The composition with acerola favored the blend, which reached a higher AA content than most fruits, apart from acerola itself. The amount of ascorbic acid in pitanga pulp is not specified in legislation, but a minimum of 800 mg/100 g is required for acerola pulp and 24 mg/100 g for guava pulp ([PERSON] et al., 2015). These values were surpassed in the evaluated samples. Lower AA values than those of the evaluated pulps were determined by some authors such as [PERSON] et al. (2015) in mature acerola with a value of 2844 mg/100 g; by [PERSON] et al. (2015) in artisanal and industrialized acerola pulps that found values of \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Parameters (mg/100 g)** & **Acerola** & **Guava** & **Pitanga** & **Blend** \\ \hline Ascorbic acid & 3636.43 \(\pm\) 52.32 A & 96,55 \(\pm\) 1.72 D & 289.78 \(\pm\) 0.87 C & 1816.81 \(\pm\) 30.82 B \\ Total phenolic compounds & 2069.55 \(\pm\) 0.57 A & 309.81 \(\pm\) 0.10 C & 178.63 \(\pm\) 0.01 D & 2027.85 \(\pm\) 4.32 B \\ Total flavonoids & 12.64 \(\pm\) 0.50 A & 1.91 \(\pm\) 0.07 D & 4.05 \(\pm\) 0.15 C & 8.22 \(\pm\) 0.21 B \\ Anthocyanins & 2.24 \(\pm\) 0.09 A & 0.48 \(\pm\) 0.02 B & 0.90 \(\pm\) 0.02 B & 2.16 \(\pm\) 1.11 A \\ Total carotenoids & 7.92 \(\pm\) 0.39 A & 1.69 \(\pm\) 0.54 D & 3.33 \(\pm\) 1.01 C & 4.16 \(\pm\) 0.95 B \\ Lycopene & 0.19 \(\pm\) 0.01 B & 0.05 \(\pm\) 0.00 D & 0.26 \(\pm\) 0.02 A & 0.10 \(\pm\) 0.00 C \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* Means followed by the same letters in the lines do not differ statistically according to [PERSON]’s test at 5% probability (\(p\geq 0.05\)).  
\end{table} 
Table 2: Contents of bioactive compounds in acerola, guava and pitanga pulp and in the blend. 633.04 mg/100 g and 1080.11 mg/100 g, respectively; by [PERSON], [PERSON] and [PERSON] [29], evaluating pulp of acerola and guava, who reported values of 1015.42 mg/100 g and 29 mg/100 g, respectively. [PERSON] et al. [36] determined ascorbic acid levels in extracts of acerola by-products, identified as non-pomace (from the juice clarification step (centrifugation)), bagasse (seeds and peels) and lyophilized juice, which ranged from 158.2 to 193,7 mg/100 g. [PERSON], [PERSON] and [PERSON] [37], evaluating pitangas produced in the region of Capao Bonito (SP), reported AA contents of 10.4 mg/100 g for orange pitanga and 8.9 mg/100 g for red pitanga. Evaluating the shelf life of a mixed drink made from coconut water and guava pulp, [PERSON] et al. [33] found AA levels ranging from 3 to 4.53 mg/100 g.  
In the content of total phenolic compounds (TPC), the acerola pulp stood out from the others with a high content greater than 500 mg/100 g, and the guava and pitanga pulps presented medium contents of TPC between 100 and 500 mg EAG/100 g [38], resulting in a blend also with a high TPC content. Higher TPC contents than pitanga pulp were quantified by [PERSON] et al. [39] for pitanga in nature (199.7 mg EAG/100 g) and pitanga pulp (219.7 mg EAG/100 g) and by [PERSON] et al. [37], who verified levels of 435.3 mg EAG/100 g in orange pitanga and 1318.0 mg EAG/100 g in red pitanga. Variations in the TPC content for acerola pulp were also observed by [PERSON] et al. [40], who presented a content of 13890.90 mg EAG/100 g, and by [PERSON] et al. [41], who observed a content of 735 mg EAG/100 g in acerola juice. In guava, [PERSON] et al.