Physico-chemical characteristics, and bioactive compounds of red fruits of sweet pitaya (Stenocereus thurberi)

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the physical and chemical characteristics and the content of bioactive compounds of ripe fruits of red sweet pitaya (Stenocereus thurberi). Sweet pitaya fruits are spherical, with a high moisture content (85.8%), a pulp percentage of 71.6%, soft texture (3.4 N), low acidity (0.18%), a total soluble solids content of 12.83 °Brix, with glucose and fructose being the main sugars with a content of 35.65 and 17.48 g 100 g-1 dry weight, respectively. The fruit has a low protein content (0.86% fresh weight) with tyrosine, glutamate, and methionine are the main essential amino acids. The pitaya flesh showed traces of carotenes, low content of L-ascorbic acid (12.45 mg 100 g-1 fresh weight), a content per gram of dry weight of total phenols of 11.31 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE), total flavonoids of 13.70 mg quercetin equivalent (QE) and total betalains of 2.43 mg. The peel had a higher content of phenols and total flavonoids (5.5 and 4.3 times higher, respectively) than the flesh, which could be considered a potential source of these compounds. The red fruits of sweet pitaya can be considered a source of phenolic compounds and betalains with potential benefits to human health.

Caracterización fisicoquímica y compuestos bioactivos en los frutos de pitaya (Stenocereus thurberi) de cuatro colores

“…La capacidad antioxidante de los frutos de S. thurberi se ha determinado por medio de los radicales DDPH Y ABTS + con valores entre 10.7 y 17.6 mM equivalentes de Trolox g -1 de peso seco, respectivamente (Castro-Enríquez et al, 2020) y solo para los frutos rojos. Esta capacidad antioxidante puede ser el producto de la sinergia entre las betalaínas y los compuestos fenólicos (García-Cruz, Dueñas, Santos-Buelgas, Valle-Guadarrama & Salinas-Moreno, 2017), motivo por el que los frutos de pitaya también han sido evaluados en términos de su contenido de compuestos fenólicos (1,131-2,070 mg equivalentes de ácido gálico por 100 g de peso seco) (Rodríguez-Félix et al, 2019;Castro-Enríquez et al, 2020). Estas sustancias se consideran de gran importancia, ya que pueden prevenir diferentes enfermedades relacionadas con el estrés oxidativo (Macheix, Fleuriet & Billot, 2018).…”

“…La concentración de azúcares en S. thurberi supera lo publicado en las especies de S. pruinosus, S. stellatus y S. queretaroensis, y por esta característica se le conoce como pitaya dulce (García-Cruz, Valle-Guadarrama, Guerra-Ramírez, Martínez-Damián & Zuleta-Prada, 2022), en esos artículos solo se menciona el contenido de los azúcares reductores, y que además es mayor el contenido de glucosa que de fructosa (Rodríguez-Félix et al, 2019).…”

“…Diversos estudios también han evaluado las características fisicoquímicas y/o nutracéuticas de la pitaya de S. thurberi (Muy, Campos & Siller, 1999;García-Cruz et al, 2012;Rodríguez-Félix et al, 2019;Castro-Enríquez et al, 2020). Sin embargo, estos trabajos se concentran en la evaluación de los frutos rojos, sin información del contenido mineral de los mismos.…”

Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Effect of Biodegradable Films Containing Pitaya (Stenocereus thurberi) Extracts during the Refrigerated Storage of Fish

“…Remarkably, two phenolic compounds (i.e., gallic acid and resorcinol) were detected for the first time in species from the Stenocereus genus. Previously, total phenols (11.31 mg gallic acid equivalent·g −1 dry weight), total flavonoids (13.70 mg quercetin equivalent·g −1 dry weight), ascorbic acid (12.45 mg·100 g −1 fresh weight), and traces of carotenes were detected [ 27 ]. In addition, flavonol-type compounds such as quercetin, catechin, isorhamnetin, and kaempferol were detected in S. thurberi , S. stellatus , and S. pruinosus species [ 25 , 32 ].…”

“…Pitayas, a common name employed for Stenocereus fruits, are attracting great attention as a source of natural colorants and have been employed to increase the attractiveness to consumers of food in general [ 24 , 25 , 26 ]. Based on the high content of betalains and phenolic compounds in Stenocereus fruits, a growing interest has been addressed to the identification of these compounds and their bioactivity [ 27 , 28 ]. Betalains, water-soluble nitrogenous pigments, have been reported to present diverse biological activities, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticarcinogenic properties [ 29 , 30 ].…”