ARS | Publication request: Healthful and nutritional components in select Florida tropical fruits

Submitted to: Tropical Fruits in Human Nutrition Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: November 19, 2008
Publication Date: October 23, 2009
Citation: Baldwin, E., Manthey, J., Luzio, G., Goodner, K., Plotto, A., Mahattanatawee, K., Gmitter, F. 2009. Healthful and nutritional components in select Florida tropical fruits. Proceedings of the Tropical Fruits in Human Nutrition and Health Conference. 2008:60-66.

Interpretive Summary: Tropical and subtropical fruits harber many health benefits. Our study showed that they contain antioxidants, fiber and provitamn A and vitamin C, especially guava. They also have excellent antioxidant capacity that protects against cancer, arthritis and other ailments by removing free radicals or negatively-active compunds from the human system. These antioxidants are in the form of vitamin A and C, but also phenolic compounds. With the American Cancer Society recommending 5-10 servings of fruits or vegetables per day, tropical fruits from South Florida analyzed in this study, would make excellent contributors to a healthy diet.

Technical Abstract: Fourteen tropical fruits from south Florida (red guava, white guava, carambola, red pitaya (red dragon), white pitaya (white dragon), mamey, sapodilla, lychee, longan, green mango, ripe mango, green papaya and ripe papaya) were evaluated for phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), total fiber and pectin. ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) and DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, radical scavenging activity) assays were used to determine antioxidant activity. The total soluble phenolics (TSP), ORAC, and DPPH ranged from 205.4 to 2316.7 µg gallic acid equivalent/g puree, 0.03 to 16.7 µmole Trolox equivalent/g puree and 2.1 to 620.2 µg gallic acid equivalent/g puree, respectively. Phenolic components included ellagic acid, quercetin glycosides, gallic acid conjugates, catechin, catechin conjugates, hydroxycinnamates, flavone glycoside, kaempferol, mangiferin, and gallotannins. Total ascorbic acid (TAA), total dietary fiber (TDF) and pectin ranged from 13.6 to 159.6 mg/100 g, 0.88 to 7.25 g/100 g and 0.2 to 1.04 g/100 g, respectively. The antioxidant activities, TSP, TAA, TDF and pectin appeared to be influenced by cultivar (papaya, guava and dragon fruit) and ripening stage (papaya and/or mango). Some of the above tropical fruits as well as tangerine hybrids were analyzed for carotenoid content. Data demonstrate the potential benefits of several of these fruits for human health.