BACKGROUND The international marketing of native Brazilian fruits may benefit from research into discrimination between plants with particular properties. Plants with certain characteristics have strong potential for use in agroindustry and for the development of new processed products. In the current study, 12 uvaia plants (Eugenia pyriformis Cambess), native to Brazil, were geographically discriminated by chemometric methods, using nutritional composition, physicochemical characterization, bioactive compounds, and antioxidant capacity data. RESULTS Uvaia fruits presented good nutritional value, with a high moisture and carbohydrate content. All fruits presented a pH value lower than 4, being classified as highly acidic, and the total soluble solids (°Brix) ranged between 2.90 and 9.80. Some plants had a higher vitamin C content, and all the plants had a high bioactive compound content (phenolic and flavonoids) and antioxidant capacity in 1,1‐difenil‐2‐picrilhidrazil (DPPH), 2,2'‐azino‐bis(3‐ethylbenzothiazoline‐6‐sulfonic acid) (ABTS), and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. Hydroethanolic solution was the best extraction solvent tested when compared with water and ethanol. Using principal component analysis, it was possible to discriminate among the plants in five different groups; however, just one group was responsible for higher antioxidant compound content. CONCLUSION In this work, 12 native uvaia plants were discriminated by their geographical origin using a chemometric approach. Genetic improvement based on natural selection could be accomplished with some of the plants to improve the quality of uvaia pulp and to develop new cultivars. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

The aim of this work was to evaluate the nutritional, physicochemical and antimicrobial characteristics of Uvaia pulp in aqueous, ethanolic and hydroethanolic extracts. We evaluate the bioactive compounds (phenolics and flavonoid), antioxidant activity by three different methods (DPPH, ABTS and FRAP), and antimicrobial activity using four different bacteria. The results show that uvaia pulp presents a TTA of 0.75 mg of citric acid 100 g-1 and the pH of 3.45, characterizing like an acid fruit. Hydroethanolic extract presented more bioactive compounds (total phenolics: 189.41 mg GAE 100 g-1 ; flavonoids 0.42 mg QE 100 g-1) and more antioxidant capacity by DPPH (1,600.50 mg TEAC 100 g-1) and ABTS (342.11 mg TEAC 100 g-1) assay and by Pearson's correlation coefficient, they present positive correlation with statistical difference (p<0.01 and p<0,05). But the uvaia extracts did not present antimicrobial activity towards the bacteria tested. Highlighted Conclusion Uvaia pulp has great nutritional and physicochemical properties, and presents antioxidant activity being a rich source of natural bioactive compounds, may be applying in processed products as jellies and juices. Brazilian flora presents a rich biodiversity of fruit trees, and stands out as having a high potential for commercialization and development of new processed products. Along with that, the landscape of Santa Catarina presents a range of native fruits, like feijoa (Acca sellowiana), blackberry (Morus nigra), uvaia (Eugenia pyriformis Cambess), Rio Grande cherry (Eugenia involucrata), butia (Butia eriospatha), gabiroba (Campomanesia reitziana), araçá (Psidium cattleyanum), blue passion fruit (Passiflora caerulea), pitanga (Eugenia uniflora) among others. One of the biggest plant groups present in Brazil belong to Myrtaceae family. It is estimated that more than three thousand species of trees and shrubs belong to this group, being found in almost all the continents, with clear predominance in tropical and subtropical regions (Marchiori and Sobral 1997). The uvaia's tree (known as uvalheira) is an example of a plant belonging to the family Myrtaceae, ranging from 6 to 13 meters of height, blooming in August and September, when its fruiting begins. The harvest occurs between the months of September to November (Lorenzi 1998). Uvaia fruit present an acid and sweet taste, velvety texture with a thin skin, spherical appearance with 2 to 4 cm in diameter, fleshy, and yellow-orange color. Native of the Atlantic Forest, it can be found from São Paulo to Rio Grande do Sul. Researches are important to valorization and conservation of the native species providing possibilities of commercial production and commercialization alternatives to the farmers. Few studies were performed on the nutritional, bioactive and antimicrobial properties of uvaia. Even so, the consumption of subtropical fruits is increasing in national and international market, mainly because nutritional and therapeutic values (Rufino et al. 2009b, Clerici and Carvalho-Silva 2011). Physicochemical i...