Postharvest characterization of purple passion fruits cultivated in conventional and organic system

Abstract

Regionally developed purple passion fruit cultivars can contribute to the increase in the production of quality fruits, meeting marked needs. The objective of this study was to evaluate the purple passion fruits, obtained in conventional and organic cultivation systems. The fruits were harvested at the stage of commercial maturation (totally purple peel) and analyzed for characterization of the physicochemical, centesimal composition, bioactive compounds and antioxidant capacity. The analyzed fruits showed higher average values for pulp yield and soluble solids in a conventional system, which were 49.04% and 13.86°Brix. The caloric energetic value was 45.95 kcal/100 g in organic system, indicating that the consumption of the "ripe" fruit can be carried out in order to meet the daily energy needs. The pulps of the purple passion fruit studied proved to be important sources of bioactive components, supported by the high mean values for ascorbic acid and total extractable polyphenols in both farming systems.