Acerola, Cashew Apple, Cherimoya and Pitanga - Tropical and Subtropical Fruits: Postharvest Physiology, Processing and Packaging - page 564

et al. (2002). Respiratory rate declined through maturation
of both types, indicating a nonclimateric pattern. Total an-
thocyanin increased from not detected in the totally green
stageto0.98mg/100ginthetotallyredstageforthered
type; in the purple type, the increase was much greater, from
not detected to 29.60 mg/100 g. Soluble solids increased
from 8.13% to 12.56% in the red fruits and from 8.53%
to 13.04% in the purple fruit. Acidity rose from 0.86% to
1.57% in the red fruit with practically no change in the pur-
ple fruit. Vitamin C increased from 22.5 to 51.0 mg/100 g
in the predominantly red stage, declining to 33.0 in the fully
red stage; the same pattern was seen in the purple fruit, the
corresponding values being 21.8, 55.0, and 17.3 mg/100 g.

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Medicinal uses and possible health benefits
In Brazilian folk medicine, the pitanga fruit is used as an
antidiarrheic, diuretic, antirheumatic, antifebrile, and an-
tidiabetic remedy.
As the cashew apple is naturally rich in terms of flavor,
pitanga can be considered a natural reservoir of bioactive
compounds, as shown by the first studies on the fruit's
contents of these phytochemicals. Among commercial
Brazilian fruits, it is one of the best sources of flavonols
(Hoffman-Ribani et al., 2009). It has the highest lycopene
content among Brazilian fruits, surpassing pink-fleshed
guava, watermelon, tomato, and red-fleshed papaya

(Rodriguez-Amaya et al., 2008).

SUMMARY
Acerola, cashew apple, and pitanga all come from plants
that are easy to grow in tropical and subtropical areas and
are very productive. However, the ripe fruits are easily
damaged mechanically and are highly perishable, making
harvesting labor intensive and requiring immediate com-
mercialization as fresh fruits or industrial processing, both
under optimum conditions. Nevertheless, prospects for the
processed products are great, considering the diversity of
products that can be manufactured, with high contents of
health-promoting compounds and exotic flavor. Cherimoya,
conversely, is consumed as a fresh fruit and has an excep-
tional flavor. The plant is more difficult to cultivate; the
fruit is prone to mechanical and physiological damage, but
controlled atmosphere storage appears to be effective in
extending shelf life.

REFERENCES
Akinwale TO. 2000. Cashew apple juice: Its use in fortifying
the nutritional quality of some tropical fruits. Euro Food Res
Technol 211: 205-7.