Morphological Characteristics, Nutritional Quality, and Bioactive Constituents in Fruits of Two Avocado (Persea americana) Varieties from Hainan Province, China

Abstract

We studied the morphological characteristics, nutritional quality, and the bioactive compounds in fruits of two avocado accessions, RN-7 and RN-8, produced in Hainan province, China. Edible and non-edible parts of the fruit (pulp and seed) were compared to evaluate their possible contribution to improve the sustainability of the food and pharmaceutical industries. The basic characteristics evaluated were moisture, ash, total lipid, fatty acid composition, soluble sugars, titratable acid, soluble protein, and minerals. We also measured the concentrations of six types of bioactive compounds; total phenolics, flavonoids, tannin, ascorbic acid, tocopheryl acetate, and carotenoids. Our analyses of the nutritional compositions demonstrated that the pulp of the RN-7 and RN-8 proved to be rich in moisture, total lipid, and soluble protein. The seed, in turn, had higher soluble sugar, titratable acidity, sodium, potassium, calcium, iron, copper, and zinc contents. Other nutritional compositions (ash, magnesium, and manganese) had little differences between the pulp and seed of avocado fruit. With regard to the contents of bioactive compounds, the seed was superior to the pulp in the contents of total phenolics, flavonoids, and tannin. Regarding the concentrations of ascorbic acid, tocopheryl acetate, and total carotenoids, the highest values were found in the pulp. The results of fatty acid compositions displayed that the palmitic, palmitoleic, stearic, oleic, and linoleic acid contents of the pulp were higher than those of the seed, while myristic and arachic acid had higher contents in the seed.

Single-Molecule Long-Read Sequencing of Avocado Generates Microsatellite Markers for Analyzing the Genetic Diversity in Avocado Germplasm

“…Avocado is rich in lipids, sugars, proteins, minerals, vitamins, and other active ingredients [6][7][8]. Moreover, avocado production has increased worldwide [1].…”

Physiological, Histological, and Molecular Analyses of Avocado Mesocarp Fatty Acids During Fruit Development

“…Today, increasing numbers of consumers are not only seeking a smooth-tasting avocado variety, but also health-motivating substances, such as fatty acids. Even so, although several studies have detected and analyzed the fatty acid contents of various avocado varieties (Vinha et al, 2013;Galvão et al, 2014;Ge et al, 2017aGe et al, , 2017bGe et al, , 2017c, there is little information on the changes of fatty acids at different stages of avocado mesocarp development. Hence, the objective of the present research was to evaluate the variations in the content and type of fatty acids, visualize the lipid droplets, and analyze the expression of some key genes and regulators participating in fatty acid and late glycolysis biosynthesis at four stages of avocado mesocarp development.…”

Morphological and Chemical Analysis of 16 Avocado Accessions (Persea americana) From China by Principal Component Analysis and Cluster Analysis

“…GC-MS conditions were evaluated using the method of Ge et al (2017b). The sample volume injected in the gas-chromatograph was 1 μL.…”

“…The fatty acid profiles were determined as described by Ge et al (2017b). Nine mature fruits were randomly collected from 18 fruits of each accession, and the pulps of theirs were mixed respectively.…”

“…Particular chemical composition of avocado are associated with nutritive and health effects (Dreher & Davenport, 2013;Galvão et al, 2014;Ge et al, 2017b). In terms of oil content, avocado fruit is exceeded only by the fruits of the palm and olive trees (Knothe, 2013).…”