Bioactive compounds and chemical composition of Brazilian Cerrado fruits’ wastes: pequi almonds, murici, and sweet passionfruit seeds

Abstract Pequi, murici and sweet passionfruit are typical fruits from Brazilian Cerrado, which stand out for their sensory attributes such as color, flavor and aroma, in addition to their high nutritional value. Their seeds are by-products from the industrial processing of juices, pulps, jellies, and others, and have great exploitation potential due to their high oil content and the presence of bioactive compounds. The present work aimed to evaluate the chemical composition of pequi almonds, and of murici and sweet passionfruit seeds, and also to quantify the total phenolic compounds, carotenoids, anthocyanins and antioxidant activity by the scavenging activity of •DPPH method. Concerning the chemical composition, pequi almonds presented the highest concentration of lipids (50%), followed by sweet passionfruit (30%) and murici seeds (15%). The almonds from pequi fruit showed the greatest content of protein (33.3%) followed by sweet passionfruit seeds (15%), which presented the highest amount of fiber (41.3%). Murici seeds exhibited the highest content of carbohydrates (46.4%). Pequi almonds had the greatest content of the following minerals, potassium, magnesium, sulfur, manganese, zinc, copper, iron, and sodium, and anthocyanins (14.4 mg CYG/100 g d.b.). Sweet passionfruit seeds presented the greatest amount of calcium, and also had the highest carotenoid content (9 mg/100 g d.b.). Murici seeds showed the highest potential for bioactive compounds, with 404 mg GAE/100 g d.b. and 81% of scavenging activity for the •DPPH. The results demonstrated that the studied seeds have the potential to be sources for new product development, such as oil.

摘要：皮基果（Pequi）、木里西果（murici）与甜百香果为巴西塞拉多（Brazilian Cerrado）地区的典型果品，凭借优异的感官品质（色泽、风味与香气）及极高的营养价值脱颖而出。其种子均为果汁、果浆、果冻等产品工业化加工过程中产生的副产物，且因含油量丰富、含有生物活性成分而具备极高的开发潜力。本研究旨在分析皮基果果仁、木里西果种子及甜百香果种子的化学成分，并通过1,1-二苯基-2-三硝基苯肼（•DPPH）自由基清除法测定其总酚类、类胡萝卜素、花青素含量与抗氧化活性。在化学成分方面，皮基果果仁的脂质含量最高（50%），其次为甜百香果种子（30%）与木里西果种子（15%）。皮基果果仁的蛋白质含量最高（33.3%），其次为甜百香果种子（15%）；甜百香果种子的膳食纤维含量最高，达41.3%。木里西果种子的碳水化合物含量最高，为46.4%。皮基果果仁的矿物质（钾、镁、硫、锰、锌、铜、铁与钠）及花青素含量最高，其中花青素含量达14.4 mg 矢车菊素-3-葡萄糖苷（CYG）/100 g干重（d.b.）。甜百香果种子的钙含量最高，同时其类胡萝卜素含量亦为最高，达9 mg/100 g干重（d.b.）。木里西果种子的生物活性成分含量最为突出，总酚类物质达404 mg 没食子酸当量（GAE）/100 g干重，且对•DPPH自由基的清除率达81%。研究结果表明，上述三种受试种子均可作为油脂等新型产品的开发原料，具备良好的应用前景。