Abstract
Wood apple (Limonia acidissima L.) is an underutilized, fruit-yielding tree that is native to India and Sri Lanka. Wood apple trees are also cultivated in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Kampuchea, Laos, and Indonesia for delicious fruits and medicinal purposes. The major objective of the present work was the analysis of the nutritional status of wood apple fruit pulp.The fruits are rich in total carbohydrates (24.74 ± 0.19%), total proteins (9.30 ± 0.16%), oil (0.99 ± 0.01%), fiber (3.32 ± 0.02%), and ash (2.73 ± 0.12%). Further analysis and quantification of free sugars, organic acids, and fatty acid methyl esters were carried out by using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatographic (GC) methods. In total, five sugars and nine organic acids were detected and quantified. The predominant sugars were fructose (16.40 ± 0.23%) and glucose (14.23 ± 0.10%), whereas the predominant organic acids were D-tartaric (4.01 ± 0.03%), ascorbic (4.51 ± 0.05%), and citric acid (4.27 ± 0.04%). The oil content of fruit pulp was 0.99 ± 0.01% and GC-MS analysis revealed that, it comprise of 16 fatty acid methyl esters. The percentage of saturated fatty acids were 32.17 ± 0.35%, that includes palmitic (18.52 ± 0.12%) and stearic acids (9.02 ± 0.08%), whereas, the unsaturated fatty acids were 51.98 ± 0.94%, including oleic acid (23.89 ± 0.06%), α-linolenic acid (16.55 ± 0.26%), linoleic acid (10.02 ± 0.43%), and vaccenic acid (1.78 ± 0.23%).
Highlights
IntroductionUnderutilized fruits are considered as a vital source of essential amino acids, vitamins, mineral elements, and dietary fiber
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutralUnderutilized fruits are considered as a vital source of essential amino acids, vitamins, mineral elements, and dietary fiber
The results showed that wood apple pulp oil is a good source of essential fatty acids
Summary
Underutilized fruits are considered as a vital source of essential amino acids, vitamins, mineral elements, and dietary fiber. In addition to these constituents, fruits are rich in proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and reducing and non-reducing sugars [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Underutilized fruits are a primary source of food, and have immense therapeutical potential due to the presence of bioactive compounds, including antioxidants such as unsaturated fats, organic acids, and sugars [1,2,3,4,7,8]. Polysaccharides have with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
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