Physicochemical and bioactive compounds at edible ripeness of eleven varieties of avocado (Persea americana) cultivated in the Andean Region of Peru

Abstract

SummaryThis work aimed evaluating some physicochemical compounds, hydrophilic (H‐AC) and lipophilic (L‐AC) antioxidant capacity of eleven avocado genotypes grown in the Andes. The results show great variability in physical and chemical properties, dry matter (DM) and lipid contents with ranges of 18.4–39.3% and 10.1–23.2%, respectively. All genotypes had high oleic acid content (50.4–69.9%) and a high unsaturated fatty acid/saturated fatty acid ratio (UFA/SFA, from 3.05 to 6.05), while the unsaponifiable fraction contained mainly β‐sitosterol (140.83–235.51 mg/100 g DM) and α‐tocopherol (17.44–71.29 µg/g DM). Total phenolic compounds (TPC), H‐AC and L‐AC ranged from 0.48 to 0.88 mg EAG/g DM, 5.37 to 14.00 and 1.87 to 6.71 μmol ET/g DM, respectively. Although the genotype influences avocado characteristics, climatic conditions in the Andean region seem to be important for the biosynthesis of metabolites of interest and should be considered in future studies.