, 2007, Dias et al., 2009 and Segantini et al., 2012). Although a general trend is followed difference

in the origin of fruit samples makes a comparison difficult. Furthermore, these fruits and by-products should not be considered a rich source of carotenoids, where values as high as 161 mg/100 g d.b. for wine palm (Mauritia vinifera) one of the most important vitamin A precursors in the Brazilian flora has been reported ( Godoy and Rodriguez-Amaya, 1998 and Rufino et al., 2010). Lycopene is considered the carotenoid with the greatest capacity to eliminate selleck the singlet oxygen. Studies have demonstrated that lycopene protects lipid molecules, low-density lipoproteins, proteins, and DNA against free radical attack, playing an essential role in the protection against diseases (Agarwal et al., 2000 and Porrini et al., 2005). From the fruits evaluated only surinam cherry, papaya, sapodilla, guava and tamarind selleck kinase inhibitor pulps and surinam cherry, papaya, sapodilla and guava by-products showed detectable levels of lycopene in their content (Table 3). All of the pulps and byproducts analyzed had low concentrations of lycopene compared with tomatoes, a lycopene-rich fruit. Carvalho, Fonseca, Silva, Boiteux, and Giordano (2005) studied different tomato hybrids and concluded that the content of lycopene in the ripe fruit varies from 149.6 to 191.6 mg/100 g d.b.

Following the example of previous studies (Vasco, Ruales, & Kamal-Eldin, 2008) that tested fruits from Tropical regions for their polyphenol contents, we classified our fruits into three categories: low (<500 mg GAE/100 g d.b.), medium (500–2500 mg GAE/100 g d.b.) and high (>2500 mg GAE/100 g d.b.). Acerola pulp had the highest levels of total phenolic compounds followed by cashew apple, surinam cherry, and soursop (Table

4). For by-products, surinam cherry showed the highest levels (P < 0.05) of total phenolic compounds followed by acerola, cashew apple, and pineapple ( Table 4). These fruit pulps and by-products could therefore be categorized as having a high concentration of phenolic compounds, consequently an excellent source of phenolic compounds. All the other fruit pulps evaluated, except CHIR-99021 chemical structure for sapodilla pulp could be categorized as having a medium content of phenolic compounds, and consequently be considered as a good source of phenolic compounds. Similar observation could be done for fruit by-products, with exception of mango and passion fruit, all the other by-products could be considered as a good source (medium content) of phenolic compounds. Almeida et al. (2011) reported 445.6 mg GAE/100 g d.b. for papaya, 298.6 mg GAE/100 g d.b. for pineapple and 122.2 mg GAE/100 g d.b. for tamarind and these values are lower than the levels reported here. Similarly, Sousa, Pereira, Queiroz, Borges, and Carneiro (2012) found 1491.5 mg GAE/100 g d.b. for soursop. Bagetti et al. (2011) found 3026 mg GAE/100 g d.b.