Bioactive Compounds in the Pulp, Jelly, and Popsicle Made from the Amazonian Fruit Camu-Camu

The camu‑camu [Myrciaria dubia (H.B.K.) McVaugh of the Myrtaceae] is native to the Amazon and is cultivated on a small scale in some Brazilian states. Camu-camu fruits are considered significant sources of different bioactive compounds, especially polyphenols and ascorbic acid. The fruit has been reported to have important functional, biological and nutraceutical effects. The present study was designed to quantify the phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of the pulp and products developed using camu-camu pulp. The camu-camu fruit used in this study were collected in an area where the trees grew as native vegetation, at the banks of the River Dog, Roraima,, Brazil. The fruit pulp was freeze-dried for 24 hours. To obtain the popsicles 1 kg of pulp, 1 kg of sugar and 3 L of water were homogenized in an industrial blender. The following day the popsicles were freeze-dried for 24 hours. After drying the material was stored in aluminum bags and kept at -20 °C. For jelly confection, 2 kg of pulp, 1.9 kg of sugar and 0.15 g of pectin were mixed and heated to 100⁰C for about 1 h until a gelatinous consistency was obtained. The pulp and the products derived were extracted methanol: chloroform: water (12:5:1, v:v:v). Phenolic compounds were evaluated by the Folin-Ciocalteau and the antioxidant activity by FRAP assay. Phenolic compounds have higher values in the pulp, followed by jelly and popsicle, where mean values were 122.0, 24.3 and 8.4 mg gallic acid equivalents/ g product, respectively. The antioxidant activity of these materials also showed similar behavior, higher values in the pulp, followed by jelly and popsicle, with mean values of 1.13; 0.63 and 0.22. mg Fe₂SO₄/g product, respectively. Liquid chromatography followed by electrospray mass spectral analysis of the pulp extracts indicated that the presence of several ellagitannins and some which were preserved in the food preparations. Food items especially the jelly prepared from camu-camu pulp makes the benefit of the bioactive compounds to be realized widely, overcoming the high acidity of the fresh fruit.