The objective of this work was to identify primary and secondary metabolites, volatile compounds, bioactive properties and physicochemical characteristics of lucuma fruit at two ripeness stages, before physiological maturity (bPM) and at physiological maturity (PM) or commercial harvest. The content of reducing sugars decreased, while starch content increased. Myo-inositol and vitamin C content decreased and increased, respectively as maturity stage advanced. The content of stearic acid decreased possibly related to the formation of unsaturated fatty acids and volatile compounds, especially aldehydes, such as 2-hexenal. In fact, key identified volatile compounds included 2-hexenal and hexanoic acid. Regarding secondary metabolites and functional properties, these significantly decreased as maturity stage advanced, only the total carotenoid content significantly increased (0.083–0.148 m...

Two commercial varieties of Peruvian Pouteria lucuma fruits namely “Seda” and “Beltrán” were characterized in terms of their physicochemical properties as well as their primary and secondary metabolites content and profile. Free sugars, dietary fiber, and starch comprise the main components in both varieties. Phenolic compounds derived from flavanoids (flavan-3-ols), gallic acid, and their derivatives were identified. Xanthophylls were tentatively identified based on their UV-vis spectra and enclosed the majority of the carotenoids found in lucuma. Additionally, both varieties showed to be sources of lipophilic compounds such as tocopherols (?, ?, and ?) and triterpenoids. The triterpenoid ?-amyrin was identified in a Pouteria fruit for the first time. The in vitro antioxidant capacity (AoxC) of the lipophilic fraction represented approximately 30% of the total AoxC. These resul...

Lucuma (Pouteria lucuma) is an important exportation fruit in Peru. In this work, the odour-active volatile changes during fruit ripening were studied by using a sensomics approach (GC-O in combination with GC-MS analyses). The volatile compound extracts from unripe and ripe fruits were obtained by solvent-assisted flavour extraction (SAFE) with dichloromethane. By application of the aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA) on the ripe fruit extract, 16 odour-active compounds were detected as responsible of sweet, green, and rancid odour-notes, characteristics of this fruit. Based on odour activity value (OAV) calculation, 2,3-butanedione, methional, (Z)-3-hexenal, (E)-2-hexenal, (Z)-?-ocimene, and 3-methyl butanoic acid were identified as key-aroma compounds in this fruit. These compounds were also quantitated in the unripe fruit SAFE extract finding that their amount increased with durin...

The authors thank Marco Ibarra-Castro, Ana Carrasco and Adelayda Pardo for their technical assistance. Dr. Carlos Arbizu from the International Potato Center (CIP), Lima - Perú, is kindly acknowledged for provision of the 35 yacon accessions. This work was supported by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONCYTEC), Perú.

BACKGROUND: The consumption of fruits, mainly berries, has been associated with beneficial health properties. These properties would be related to the quantity and quality of the metabolites present. Some native berries from the Andes, such as Andean elderberry, would be an important source of metabolites with bioactive properties. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate at the physico-chemical and metabolomic level the characteristics of the elderberry from four different high Andean regions, and to determine their bioactive potential through in vitro tests. RESULTS: Significant differences were found in the evaluated characteristics according to the Region of procedence of the fruit. Glucose was the main sugar for all berry samples, followed by fructose. Among the most important organic acids, citric and malic acid were found. Elderberry from Apurimac presented the highest content of total sugars and ...