Pineapple juice drink: potential functional drink for reducing inflammation in athletes

Abstract

Bromelain is well known as an anti-inflammatory compound derived from pineapple fruit and stem extract. This study investigated bromelain content in raw pineapple with different maturity indexes and also in pineapple juice drinks. Pineapple juice drink was produced by mixing fresh juice with other ingredients, homogenized and pasteurized. Bromelain content in raw and pineapple juice drinks was analyzed by using HPLC. The total soluble solids and pH values were also determined in the pineapple juice drink. This study also investigated the potential of pineapple juice drink as an anti-inflammatory drink using carrageen-induced paw edema in rat model. Bromelain content in raw pineapple showed that pineapple with index 4 contained significantly high (p<0.05) bromelain compared to the others. The bromelain content in 200 mL of product is 106.33±0.14 mg/ ml and significantly (p<0.05) reduced by 50% after 12 months of storage. The drink has a pH of 3.54 and 15°Brix. This study also revealed that bromelain in doses of 6.6 mL/kg showed 15% inhibition of paw edema at the end of three hrs. These studies suggested that bromelain does have anti-inflammatory properties which benefited athletes, especially for recovery purposes.