Abstract
Cubiu fruits (Solanum sessiliflorum Dunal, Solanaceae) are known for their high nutritional value and low caloric content. This work aimed at evaluating biochemical indices of cubiu fruits according to different tissues (peel, pulp and placenta) and ripening stages (green, turning, ripe and fully ripe). The fruits were randomly harvested to investigate sensory aspects (colorimetry, blanching effect, pigments) and biochemical indices (moisture and dry matter, Total Soluble Solids (TSS), pH, Titratable Acidity (TA), TSS/TA ratio, ascorbic acid, Alcohol-Insoluble Solids (AIS), pectinesterase activity and pectin content). The analyses were performed at the laboratory of Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia (INPA), Manaus, Brazil. The blanching process preserved pulp colors at all ripening stages. Chlorophylls were higher in green peels; flavonoids and carotenoids, in fully ripe peels. Anthocyanins were entirely absent. Pulp (turning fruits) showed the highest moisture content (91.05), followed by ripe pulp (90.70) and fully ripe pulp (90.62). Pulp TSS changed little whereas placenta TSS declined and were associated with increased TA and pH reduction (fully ripe fruits). Pulp pH and TA varied little whereas placenta pH was notably low and TA was remarkably high (fully ripe fruits). Pulp TSS/TA ratio showed predominance of TSS while in placenta, there was predominance of organic acids. AIS, precursors of pectin, were stable during ripening. The statistical analysis of dietary fiber content showed one modal value in the AIS. In pulp, pectinesterase activity correlated inversely with pectin content. Cubiu fruits were significant sources of bioactive compounds, e.g. chlorophylls, flavonoids and carotenoids, predominantly in the peel and the pulp; soluble functional fibers, e.g. pectin (g/100 g fresh weight), particularly in the green peel (1.00) and the fully ripe pulp (1.12), and other versatile molecules, e.g. ascorbic acid (mg/100 g fresh weight), especially in the fully ripe peel (32.45) and placenta (24.84) and the turning placenta (21.27). Cubiu fruits are rich in ascorbic acid and should be included in the human diet.
Highlights
The human population of the Amazonian region has long used fruits from a species of the Solanaceae family commonly referred to as cubiu (Solanum sessiliflorum Dunal) in Brazil, cocona in Colombia and Peru and tupiru in Venezuela [1] [2]
The results clearly demonstrated a similar pattern of behavior in the tissue distribution of (A)
In the last 20 years, laboratory research has partly revealed the biochemical composition of cubiu fruits
Summary
The human population of the Amazonian region has long used fruits from a species of the Solanaceae family commonly referred to as cubiu (Solanum sessiliflorum Dunal) in Brazil, cocona in Colombia and Peru and tupiru in Venezuela [1] [2]. Cubiu herbaceous plants have drawn the attention of researchers for their biological versatility (preferential heliophilous or facultative ombrophilous plants), their capacity to grow in upland or lowland areas, their climacteric (ethylene-dependent) as well as non-climacteric (ethylene-independent) behavior (depending on the cultivar or the genotype) and the good technological quality of their fruits for the food industry [1] [3] [4] [5]. Similar to other Solanaceae fruits (e.g. tomatoes), cubiu seeds are numerous and embedded in the locular tissue [2] [7]. The cubiu fruit peel (or exocarp) constitutes a thin layer that is, resistant to digital compression and to peel. All these tissue portions are edible and technologically profitable, i.e. they may give rise to new food products of excellent quality and deserve further investigation
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