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Title: Total antioxidant activity and fiber content of select Florida-grown tropical fruits

Author
item Mahattanatawee, Kanjana
item Manthey, John
item Luzio, Gary
item TALCOTT, STEVEN - UNIV OF FLORIDA
item Goodner, Kevin
item Baldwin, Elizabeth - Liz

Submitted to: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/13/2006
Publication Date: 8/9/2006
Citation: Mahattanatawee, K., Manthey, J.A., Luzio, G., Talcott, S.T., Goodner, K.L., Baldwin, E.A. 2006. Total antioxidant activity and fiber content of select Florida-grown tropical fruits. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 54:7355-7363.

Interpretive Summary: Florida-grown tropical fruits (red and white guava, carambola, red and white pitaya, mamaey, sapodilla, lychee, longan, green and ripe mango, ripe and green papaya) were tested for antioxidants, vitamin C and fiber. These compounds all contribute to the healthful benefits of these fruits. The information was then compared to other common fruits such as apple, blueberry, peach, etc. The report showed that these tropical fruits had as much or more antioxidant capacity, vitamin C and fiber compared to other common fruits, and thus, offer healthful benefits to consumers. In addition, green and ripe mango and papaya were compared since the ripeness stage of these fruits depends on ethnic background.

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 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 'g gallic acid equivalent/g puree, 0.03 to 16.7 'mole Trolox equivalent/g puree and 2.1 to 620.2 'g gallic acid equivalent/g puree, respectively. 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). Antioxidant activity showed high correlations with levels of phenolic compounds in methanolic extracts (r = 0.96) but low correlations with levels of ascorbic acid (r = 0.35 and 0.25 for ORAC and DPPH data, respectively). The antioxidant activities evaluated by both ORAC and DPPH showed similar trends where red guava and carambola exhibited highest and sapodilla and green papaya lowest levels. Guava and mamey exhibited the highest TDF and pectin levels. Data demonstrates the potential benefits of several of these fruits for human health.