Evaluation of the nutritional characteristics of Passiflora coccínea Aubl. pulp and peel from the Amazon region

Passiflora coccinea known as “maracujá rajado”, ”maracujá-de-flor-vermelha” or “maracujá poranga” is a native fruit found in Amazon region. Nowadays, the concept of Unconventional food plants (PANC) has been discussed in the area of food science and technology. These plants are not normally consumed, not being the first choice for consumption. However, these plants can be inserted in human diet because of its nutritional benefits. Therefore, the main goal of this work was to perform the evaluation of composition of micronutrients and macronutrient of Passiflora coccinea pulp (PcPu) and peel (PcPe). Micronutrients as potassium, magnesium, calcium, sodium, iron, zinc, copper and manganese analyzes were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry, vitamin C content was determined by high performance chromatography and the other centesimal composition analyzes followed the proposed by the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC).The physicochemical analyzes indicated that PcPu showed highest values compared to PcPe for almost all parameters, being: moisture (72.47 ± 0.7, 62.02 ± 1.8), mineral residue (1 ± 0.1, 0.86 ± 0.12), protein content (1.22 ± 0.06, 0.12 ± 0.02), lipid content (12.91 ± 1.16, 0.51 ± 0.105), carbohydrate (6.68, 2.59), and energy value (140.08, 15.43), respectively. In addition, the total fiber content was around 39.0g/100g for PcPe and approximately 6.0g/100g for PcPu. The PcPu exhibited high acidity (pH = 2,8) and total titratable acidity-TA (3.27%) and low values of total soluble solids-TSS (14.7°Brix) and ratio (TSS/TA, 4.5). The vitamin C content was around to 20.8 mg/100g and the mineral constituents were 378.4 mg/100g for K, 28.82 mg/100g for Mg, 6.51 mg/100g for Ca, 3.77 mg/100g for N, 78 mg/100g for Fe, 0.32 mg/100g Zn, 0.17 mg/100g for Cu and 0.15 mg/100g for Mn. The results show a great nutritional potential of this PANC, very similar to conventional Passiflora sp. fruits.