Conteúdo de bioativos durante o desenvolvimento da acerola BRS 238 (Frutacor)

Abstract

Acerola is a tropical fruit, climacteric fruit and has a very important socio-economic value in Brazil, where it found favorable conditions for its propagation. Much of the interest in commercial production of this fruit comes from the high content of vitamin C in it. However, in addition to vitamin C, this fruit is rich in other bioactive compounds such as carotenoids, polyphenols such as flavonoids and anthocyanins, and also has interesting physicochemical and chemical characteristics from the nutritional point of view. The objective of this work was to determine the bioactive content and enzyme activity of the metabolism of vitamin C and phenolic compounds during the development of acerola BRS 238 (Frutacor). Fruits were harvested at five different ripening stages and evaluated for physicochemical and chemical characteristics, vitamin C, vitamin C metabolism enzymes activity, total extractable polyphenols, yellow flavonoids, total anthocyanins, and enzyme activity of phenolic compounds metabolism. During the development of these fruits, there was an increase in the sweetness of the fruit, a decrease in the content of chlorophyll, and a consequent increase in the content of carotenoids, a decline in the content of vitamin C, and total extractable polyphenols (PET). Despite the reduction in PET, the content of yellow flavonoids and total anthocyanins showed an evident increase with ripening, which may have been caused by the degradation of chlorophyll and the consequent appearance or synthesis of these compounds. The activity of the enzymes of vitamin C metabolism, ascorbate oxity (AO) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) decreased with maturation. For enzyme activity of phenolic compounds metabolism there was an increase in phenylalanine ammonium liasase (PAL) activity during maturation, while polyphenoloxidase (PPO) activity had its activity reduced. Despite the reduction of vitamin C and PET during development, the fruits of BRS 238 had a high content of bioactive compounds.