Use of Amazon Fruits Barks as Source of Nutrients

Abstract

The barks of fruits are usually discarded as organic waste; a valuable source of nutrients is obtained are used as a starting source in the preparation of functional foods. In this work, the physicochemical properties (pH, titrable acidity and soluble solids), mineral and bromatological analysis of nine Amazonian fruits were studied: abiu, acerola, araçá, bacupari, biribá, camu-camu, fruta-do-conde, araçá and taperebá. The most acidic values stand out for the different fruits, with the exception of the abiu bark (pH = 4.7). As for its nutritional contribution, it was the araçá barks that presented the highest energy value of 276.29 Kcal 100 g-1. Among the macrominerals, the potassium concentration stands out, being the highest concentration for the graviola bark, 521.04 mg 100 g-1 followed by magnesium, where the concentration in the biribá was 64.21 mg 100 g-1. On the other hand, the husks are rich in micronutrients, highlighting the concentration of zinc in the bark of araçá, 12.23 mg 100 g-1 and manganese in the bark of abiu, 6.84 mg 100 g-1. The Pearson correlation coefficient presented a highly significant correlation for Fe-Al (0.96), P-Fe (0.94) and Fe-Zn (0.89). O bligpot of principal components (PCA) explains 56% of the cases, being the minerals Mg, Na, Co, K, S and Ca highly associated for the graviola and bacuparí.