CaracterÃsticas fÃsicas, quÃmicas e compostos bioativos em pequis (Caryocar coriaceum Wittm.)

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2009

RESUMO

Pequi (Caryocar coriaceum Wittm.) is distinguished from other fruit trees in the Chapada do Araripe/CE region, due its socioeconomic value and acceptability level of the fruits, reflected by the multiplicity of uses, as in regional cooking as in popular pharmacopoeia. Considering the scarce reports in literature concerning this species, and variability and heterogeneity of native pequi populations, this research was done in order to evaluate variability among plants, nutritional and agro-industrial potential, functional properties of fruits and to identify the most promising plants. Whole fruits, peel, almonds, pulps and seeds of 35 pequi plants located in the mentioned region were characterized through physical and chemical parameters. Data (mean from 25 fruits per plant) were evaluated using descriptive statistics (measures of central tendency and data variability) and multivariate analysis (cluster analysis and principal components analysis). Results showed that the species Caryocar coriaceum Wittm. presents considerable variability and, among the studied characteristics, fruit and peel weight and b* and L* color coordinates were the more contributive to genotype characterization. Also, five groups of plants with similar phenotypic characteristics were identified by cluster analysis and the best characteristics for industrial processing were observed for fruits of plants 01, 02, 03; 05; 07; 14; 22 and 26. The work also evidenced: nutritional value of pequi as an energy source, especially the almond by possessing high contents of proteins, zinc, manganese, copper and phosphorous; the suitability of the physical-chemical properties for fresh consumption and oil production and also the antioxidant capacity of fruit extracts from all the studied plants, especially 14 and 29. These results confirm the considerable agro-industrial, nutritional and antioxidant potential of pequi, able to contribute to maintaining health

ASSUNTO(S)

pequi nutricao compostos bioativos pequi caracterÃsticas fÃsicas bioactive compounds native fruits physical characteristics chemical composition composiÃÃo quÃmica frutas nativas

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