Phytochemical composition and antioxidant potential of different varieties viz. Flor Branca, Costa Rica and Junco of green unripe acerola (Malphigia emarginata D.C.) fruits

Abstract Malpighia emarginata D.C is an important crop of Brazil and significant source of antioxidant active compounds with notable health effects. The purpose of this work was to study three varieties of acerola (Malpighia emarginata D.C) at green unripe stage of maturity from the São Francisco Valley of Northeast Brazil. The fruits were evaluated for physico-chemical composition, bioactive compounds, through spectrophotometric analysis and liquid chromatography, as well as the profile of macro and micro minerals and antioxidant capacity. The fruits presented satisfactory results in physico-chemical quality parameters. HPLC-DAD phenolic profile analysis identified kaempferol-3-glucoside (32.68 mg/100 g), p-coumaric acid (28.87 mg/100 g) and isorhamnetin (11.41 mg/100 g) as the major compounds, mainly in the variety of Flor Branca (FB). The results obtained from the profiles of sugars and organic acids were similar among the varieties. The minerals were excellent sources of the elements of K, Ca, Mg and Mn. Moreover, FB variety represents higher antioxidant capacity in ABTS·+ (8613.54 μM Trolox/g) and ORAC (2454.42 μM Trolox/g). Thus, the results show the potential to be applied for variety selection and utilization programs based on their specific nutritive characters, contributing to the development of new products.