Abstract Acerola (Malpighia emarginata D.C.) industry generates a large quantity of residues, which are underused or incorrectly disposed. However, acerola residues are rich sources of bioactive compounds. Nevertheless, this fruit waste presents high values of angles of repose, as well as low density and high moisture content. These factors result in poor flowability making it difficult to use moving beds in its processing. This paper investigates the performance of a new system composed of a packed bed dryer assisted by infrared radiation (IR) for acerola residues drying, considering its reuse. We investigate the effect of main process variables on moisture removal and on the antioxidant properties of this coproduct. We propose prediction equations to evaluate the dehydration rate as a function of the independent variables for different axial bed positions. We also quantify the ascorbic acid, total phenolic, and flavonoids compounds contents. The main phenolic acids and flavonoids compounds were identified using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The results of this study show that the new technique used in this work proved to be a good alternative for processing this residue, reducing the heterogeneity of the product and keeping the bioactive compounds at high levels.