Physicochemical characteristics of mature acerola fruits from 12 genotypes cultivated at Active Germoplasm Bank of Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE), harvested at winter/1999, summer/2000 and summer/2001, were analyzed. The joint analysis of these fruits showed the following average variation: ascorbic acid 1067 to 1846mg/100g of fruit pulp; total anthocyanins 3.8 to 47.4mg/100g of fruit pulp; total flavonols 7.0 to 18.5 quercetin mg/100g of fruit pulp; titratable acidity (TA) 1.04 to 1.87g of malic acid/100g of fruit pulp; total soluble solids (TSS) 7.0 to 8.4ºBrix; TSS/TA ratio 4.4 to 6.9 and pH 3.11 to 3.41. Considering the characteristics analyzed, all genotypes, except 015-CPA, which showed ascorbic acid level lower than the transformation industry standard, are potentially promising.
Malpighia emarginata D.C.; genotypes; phytochemicals; fruits quality
