The Atlantic Forest's underexplored treasure: a comprehensive study of the nutritional, physicochemical, technological properties and a novel bioactive investigation of cambucá pulp (Plinia edulis (Vell) Sobral).

Abstract

Cambucá is a native and underexploited fruit from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest that is currently at risk of extinction. Given this, the objective was to determine the nutritional, physicochemical, technological, and bioactive properties of the fruit pulp, with emphasis on the first determination of its bioactive profile. With a mass yield of 51%, the pulp had a high moisture content (90.28%), as well as high total fiber and carbohydrate content (39.82% and 37.69% on a dry basis, respectively). Soluble sugars predominated, mainly fructose (1278.23 mg.100 g-1), with acidity determined by a low pH (3.41) associated with aliphatic organic acids, mainly citric acid (383.66 mg.100 g-1). The fresh and fruity aroma, with herbaceous and resinous notes, reflects the presence of the major volatile compounds trans-pinocarveol, undecanal, and 1-pentanol. The yellow-orange color of the pulp is associated with carotenoids that were tentatively identified, particularly β-cryptoxanthin (6.52 μg.g-1). Phenolic compounds totaled 1850.49 mg GAE.100 g-1, with emphasis on the glycosylated fraction, in which gallic acid was the most abundant phenolic compound (423.81 μg.g-1). The pulp exhibited a significant antioxidant capacity, as indicated by the ORAC assay (173.38 μmol TE.g-1), likely due to the presence of the bioactive compounds evaluated. Taken together, the results demonstrate that cambucá pulp has a relevant nutritional composition, complex sensory profile, and diversity of bioactive compounds with consequent antioxidant capacity, which places the fruit as a native matrix with potential for fresh consumption and for the development of products with differentiated characteristics.