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Bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity during ripening of Malpighia glabra fruits

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Abstract

Malpighia glabra (Malpighiaceae) is a cherry fruit popularly known as acerola or West Indian cherry, with nutraceuticals in each ripening stage. The changes in the phytoconstituents, pigments, sugars, organic acids, and antioxidants were investigated during the fruit ripening and expressed in fresh weight (FW). Gentisic acid was present in the highest concentration in IMGL fruits (11.43 mg/100 g), which was reduced to 0.362 mg/100 g over-ripening. The major flavonoid present was epicatechin, and the concentration increased from 2.11 mg/100 g in immature green large (IMGL) fruits to 19.52 mg/100 g in ripe fruits. Ascorbic acid was the most abundant organic acid present, and the highest concentration was found in the IMGL fruits (2030 mg/100 g). Fructose and galactose were found in the highest concentrations in overripe fruits (2290 mg/100 g and 1460 mg/100 g, respectively). The IMGL fruits showed the highest total antioxidant activity of 5.48% and 5.34% ascorbic acid equivalent in methanolic and aqueous extracts, respectively. Mineral quantification showed that the fruits were rich in potassium and calcium (150.43 and 12.90 mg/100 g, respectively). This study could identify the appropriate stage of acerola fruit for developing functional foods with maximum utilization of phytoconstituents in all stages.

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Acknowledgements

The authors greatly acknowledge the Director, CSIR-CFTRI, for her constant support and encouragement.

Funding

The corresponding author (PG) is thankful to the Ministry of Food Processing India (SERB), New Delhi (SER/MoFPI/011/2015), India, for financial assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Cell Biotechnology Department, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, 570020, India

    S. V. Shreelakshmi, N. Chaitrashree, Maria Sheeba Nazareth, Sandopu Sravan Kumar, Nandini P. Shetty & P. Giridhar

Authors
  1. S. V. Shreelakshmi
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  2. N. Chaitrashree
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  3. Maria Sheeba Nazareth
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  4. Sandopu Sravan Kumar
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  5. Nandini P. Shetty
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  6. P. Giridhar
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Contributions

SVS, NC, MSN, SSK: Planned, designed, performed the experiments, interpreted the research data, statistical analysis, and drafted the manuscript sections. NPS, PG: Fully supervised the study plan, methodology, data execution, interpretation, and manuscript corrections. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to P. Giridhar.

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Shreelakshmi, S.V., Chaitrashree, N., Nazareth, M.S. et al. Bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity during ripening of Malpighia glabra fruits. J Food Sci Technol 61, 717–726 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-023-05872-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-023-05872-3

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