Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
(Bezerra et al., 2000). The fruits develop and ripen in 3-4
weeks from flowering.
Fruiting occurs two to three times a year and is generally
profuse. In the northeastern state of Pernambuco, fruiting
occurs twice a year: between March and May with the peak
in April and between August and in December with the peak
in October (Bezerra et al., 2000; de Lira Junior, 2007). In
the southern and southeastern regions, fruiting takes place
once or twice a year, in August to February, and may also
occur between April and July.
The pitanga fruit is highly vulnerable to deterioration.
The fully ripe fruit is fragile, the skin is easily bruised,
and the pulp rapidly ferments. After harvest, the fruit can
support a maximum of 24 hours at ambient temperature
(Bezerra et al., 2000). Because of its high perishability,
marketing of fresh pitanga is restricted to areas close to the
producing region during the harvest season.
Fruits at three stages of maturity (green, partially ripe,
ripe) were stored for 30 days under refrigeration (8
◦
C
,
90-95% relative humidity) and for 90 days frozen (
imate and micronutrient compositions of US and Brazilian
pitangas are shown in Table 29.1.
The following carotenoids were confirmed in pitanga by
HPLC-DAD and HPLC-MS: lycopene, rubixanthin,
cis
-
rubixanthin,
β
-cryptoxanthin,
cis
-lycopene,
γ
-carotene,
β
-
carotene, zeaxanthin, lutein,
β
-carotene-5,6-epoxide, and
violaxanthin
(Azevedo-Meleiro
and
Rodriguez-Amaya,
2004).
Cavalcante and Rodriguez-Amaya (1992) found
73.0
μ
g/g lycopene, 52.7
μ
g/g
γ
-carotene, 47.0
μ
g/g
β
-cryptoxanthin, 23.0
μ
g/g rubixanthin, 13.1
μ
g/g
phytofluene, 9.5
μ
g/g
β
-carotene, and 4.7
μ
g/g
ζ
-carotene
in fresh pitanga from Pernambuco.
The principal carotenoids of the pitanga fruit from two
states and at two stages of ripening as well as of pro-
cessed pitanga products (frozen pulp and juice) commer-
cialized in Campinas, Sao Paulo, were quantified by Porcu
and Rodriguez-Amaya (2008). Significant alterations oc-
curred from the partially ripe to the ripe fruits, with ly-
copene increasing 2 to 3 times,
18
◦
C)
(Melo et al., 2000). The fruits lost weight irrespective of
maturity and storage condition. Refrigeration maintained
the external appearance of the partially ripe and fully ripe
fruits up to 10 days, and the green fruits for 20 days but
prevented its ripening. Soluble solids, pH, acidity, and vi-
tamin C were altered by the treatments applied, except for
vitamin C in the frozen food, which retained its original
value. Partially ripe and fully ripe fruits could be preserved
under refrigeration for 5 days. Freezing drastically changed
the physical characteristics of the fruits so that it could only
be used for industrial processing.
In Brazil, pitanga products are marketed throughout the
country in the form of frozen pulp and bottled pasteur-
ized juice. The pulp is utilized in ice creams, jellies, jams,
liquors, and wines. The processing steps are same as those
described for acerola fruit.
In Hawaii, the ripe fruit is packaged in the field in vented
clamshell or rigid containers and sold as such. Fruit is
chilled immediately after harvest. Freshly picked pitanga
chilled within an hour of harvest maintained its integrity
for 14 days (Love et al., 2007).
−
-cryptoxanthin and rubix-
anthin increasing appreciably, and
β
-carotene,
lutein, and violaxanthin increasing slightly. As compared
to pitanga from Parana, those from Sao Paulo had higher
lycopene (71.1 vs. 14.0
μ
g/g), (13
Z
)
-
lycopene (5.0 vs.
1.1
μ
g/g), and
γ
-carotene,
β
γ
-carotene (3.8 vs. 1.6
μ
g/g) contents but
lower
-cryptoxanthin (11.8 vs. 12.8
μ
g/g) and rubixan-
thin (9.4 vs. 11.5
μ
g/g) levels in the ripe stage. The pitanga
from Campinas was found to be one of the richest sources
of carotenoids, particularly lycopene. The processed prod-
ucts, however, had much lower carotenoid contents. The
lycopene concentration was 16.6
μ
g/g for frozen pulp and
23.0-25.6
μ
g/g for bottled juice.
Fifty-four volatile compounds were detected in pitanga
fruit, 29 of which were identified (Oliveira et al., 2006).
Monoterpenes (75%) comprised the largest class, includ-
ing
trans
-
β
β
-ocimene,
cis
-ocimene (14%), the isomeric
β
-
ocimene (15%), and
-pinene. In supercritical fluid ex-
tracts, 45 compounds were detected, of which 37 were
identified (Malaman et al., 2011). The sesquiterpenes and
ketones were found to be strongly contributing to the char-
acteristic flavor of the fruit.
Garden lots of pitanga had an average of 3.7 mg/100 g
of myricetin, 6.2 mg/100 g of quercetin, and 0.4 mg/100 g
of kaempferol (Hoffman-Ribani et al., 2009). Supermar-
ket lots had 3.1 mg/100 g of myricetin, 5.5 mg/100 g of
quercetin, and 0.4 mg/100 g of kaempferol.
β
Composition
The common Brazilian pitanga fruit has 75-88% pulp,
8.3
◦
−
11.6
◦
Brix, and 1.75-1.87% acidity (Bezerra et al.,
2000). When fruit samples from 122 plants from Per-
nambuco were analyzed, the following ranges were ob-
tained: average weight, 2.8-6.0 g; pulp, 65.3-83.1%;
◦
Brix,
6.8-12.1; acidity, 1.9-2.6 (Bezerra et al., 1995). The prox-
Compositional changes during ripening
The red and purple types of pitanga, at developmental stages
five and six, respectively, were evaluated by dos Santos
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