IN VITRO ANTIDIABETIC ACTIVITY OF CASHEW APPLE JUICES, WINE AND VINEGAR

Diabetes affects 589 million adults worldwide, a figure that could reach 853 million by 2050, with Africa experiencing the fastest growth. In this context, valorizing local agro-industrial by-products offers a promising avenue for limiting postprandial hyperglycemia. In Côte d'Ivoire, the world's leading cashew nut producer, the cashew apple represents approximately 90% of the fruit's weight but remains largely underexploited. This study aimed to evaluate and compare, under identical experimental conditions, the in vitro antidiabetic potential of five cashew apple-derived products: raw juice, clarified juice, pasteurized juice, wine and vinegar. Following qualitative phytochemical screening, α-amylase inhibitory activity and glucose adsorption capacity were determined. Screening revealed eight families of secondary metabolites, raw juice concentrating six, compared with four for clarified and pasteurized juices, and seven for vinegar. Vinegar showed the lowest IC₅₀ (0.88 ± 0.49 mg/mL), statistically equivalent to that of acarbose (0.21 ± 0.08 mg/mL), followed by wine (8.99 ± 3.73 mg/mL) and clarified juice (11.87 ± 2.69 mg/mL), while raw and pasteurized juices recorded the highest IC₅₀ values. For glucose adsorption, expressed relative to the dry mass used, vinegar ranked first at the two highest concentrations, and wine at the lowest concentration (0.084 ± 0.009 mmol/g). Vinegar thus stands out as the best-performing product across both mechanisms evaluated, with double fermentation appearing to be the processing method most favorable to the expression of the antidiabetic potential of the cashew apple.