|  |
What's in Your Tropical Fruit?1
Susan S. Percival and Brooke Findley2Introduction
Fruits are abundant in nutrients, such as fiber, potassium, folate, and Vitamin C. Moreover, they also contain carotenoids and polyphenols, which act as antioxidants within the body. Eating large amounts of plant-based foods has been associated with lowered rates of cardiovascular disease (1, 2) and with decreased risk of cancer and stroke (2). Consuming adequate fruits and vegetables provides both essential nutrients and compounds that provide other beneficial physiological effects, not all of which are known.The nutrient composition of tropical fruits is of particular interest not only because of the health benefits of fruit consumption, but also because of the importance of tropical fruits to the agricultural industry in Florida. In 2003, Florida ranked ninth in the nation for total cash receipts from fruit, with nearly 28% of this from field crops and other crops not including vegetables. Additionally, Florida's top export is fruit; in 2003, Florida ranked second in the nation in fruit exports (3). Since the production of tropical fruits is an important part of the economy of the state, highlighting the nutritional benefits of these fruits enhances their marketability and appeal.
However, the lack of comprehensive information about the nutritional properties of these foods presents a challenge. The purpose of this publication is to evaluate the current information available on the nutrient composition of tropical fruits. The nutrient information (amounts of fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, folate, potassium, calcium and iron) for the tropical fruits examined was compiled from the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference (4, 5) (see Table 1 ). These values were then compared to the daily reference values for food labeling (6) and evaluated in relation to the percent provided per serving. According to the FDA, a "good" source of a nutrient provides 10-19% of the daily reference value, while an "excellent" source provides 20% of the daily reference value (6, 7). Scientific names for fruits not found in the USDA Nutrient Database were found in Morton's Fruits of Warm Climates (8). The tropical fruits chosen for this analysis were selected because they are currently of interest to local growers and to food and dietary supplement manufacturers in and around the state of Florida.
Nutrients
Fiber helps maintain intestinal function, reduces the risk of heart disease, and can help keep blood glucose levels normal. Sapodilla, kumquat, durian and avocado were found to have the highest amounts of fiber of the fruits evaluated. Kumquat and sapodilla, at 6.4 g and 5.4 g of fiber per serving, respectively, both provide more than 20% of the daily reference value for fiber, and therefore are excellent sources of fiber.Vitamin A is important for vision, expression of genes, growth, and development, as well as proper immune function (9). Passion fruit juice (89 µg/serving), pitanga (65 µg/serving), acerola (60 µg/serving), and plantain (41 µg/serving) contain the highest amounts of Vitamin A of the tropical fruits evaluated. Despite these fruits' high levels of Vitamin A when compared to the other fruits evaluated, these three fruits are not considered "good" or "excellent" sources of the vitamin. More research into beta-carotene and its contribution to vitamin A value is needed.
In the body, Vitamin C is used as a cofactor for many metabolic reactions; it also serves as an antioxidant (9). Many of the fruits evaluated are high in Vitamin C. Acerola juice, which contains 3872 mg per serving, and raw acerola cherries, which contain 822 mg per serving, are extraordinarily high in Vitamin C. Guava, which contains 188 mg per serving, is also an excellent source, followed by passion fruit juice (74 mg/serving), longan (70 mg/serving), and lychee (70 mg/serving).
Calcium is necessary for blood clotting, muscle movement, and transmission of nerve signals, and is important for formation of bones and teeth (9). Of the tropical fruits evaluated, kumquat (62 mg/serving), mamey sapote (39 mg/serving), and sapodilla (25 mg/serving) contain the most calcium; however, none of these fruits are considered "good" or "excellent" sources of calcium. (Fruits are not typically good sources of calcium.)
Iron is a component of enzymes and hemoglobin in the body and prevents anemia (9). Of the tropical fruits evaluated, acerola, coconut, and sapodilla contained the most iron. All three of these fruits are good sources of iron for males, with a serving of acerola providing 15% of the RDA for males, and servings of coconut and sapodilla providing 12% of the RDA for males; however, these fruits are not considered "good" or "excellent sources" of iron for women, whose RDA for iron is higher. (Fruits are not, in general, good sources of iron.)
Folate is important in metabolic reactions in the body and also prevents certain types of anemia (9). An adequate folate intake prevents birth defects and heart disease. Avocado, durian, and guava are the tropical fruits with the most folate. With 61 µgg/serving, 44 µgg/serving and 40 µgg/serving, respectively, they are considered "good" sources of folate. Data on the folate content of some fruits are nonexistent.
Potassium is important in maintaining the fluid balance of cells. It contributes to normal cell function, helps to counterbalance fluctuations in blood pressure when excess sodium is taken into the body, and decreases markers of bone turnover (9). Of the tropical fruits evaluated, passion fruit juice, durian, plantain, guava, and avocado contained the most potassium. Passion fruit juice, in particular, is an excellent source of potassium, containing almost 700 mg of potassium (20% of the daily reference value) per serving.
Fruits
In addition to vitamins and minerals, a number of the fruits characterized in the USDA database contained other dietary bioactive components, such as carotenoids and polyphenols (Table 2 ). After noting which fruits had significant quantities of at least three of the nutrients listed in Table 1, we searched the scientific literature for research on the composition of other dietary bioactive components in these fruits. This meant we searched for articles on acerola, avocado, durian, guava, kumquat, passion fruit juice, and sapodilla.Acerola (Malpighia glabra, Malpighia emarginata) is extraordinarily high in vitamin C and is also a rich source of vitamin A, iron, and folate. The fruit juice has also been found to contain carotenoids, such as beta-carotene (10).
Avocado (Persea americana) contains alpha and beta carotene and lutein/zeathanthin, but not lycopene (4). Other bioactive food components have not been characterized. The oil of the avocado has received more attention than the edible pulp.
Durian (Durio zibethinus) is high in fiber, folate, and potassium; however, no carotenoid or phenolic information is currently available.
Guava (Psidium guajava), a source of fiber, vitamin C, folate, and potassium, is also very high in lycopene and beta-carotene (4, 11). Guava also contains ellagic acid, gallic acid conjugates, and quercetin glycosides, but not hydroxycinnamics (12) or cryptoxanthin (4, 11). No derivatives of chlorogenic acids were detected in guava (13).
Passion fruit juice (Passiflora edulis) is rich in vitamins A and C, as well as potassium. The predominant carotene is zeta-carotene (14).
Sapodilla (Manikara zapota) and kumquat (Fortunella spp.) are high in fiber, iron, and calcium, as far as fruits go. Two unusual polyphenolic compounds with high antioxidant activity, methyl 4-O-galloylchlorogenate and 4-O-galloylchlorogenic acid (15), have been identified in sapodilla. 5-caffeoylquinte (CQA) (but not 4-CQA) was also found in small quantities in the sapodilla (13). In addition, sapodilla contains catechin conjugates and polyphenols (12). The predominant flavanone in kumquat is narirutin, while the fruit is practically devoid of flavones (16).
Research Opportunities
While information regarding a variety of tropical fruits was found in the USDA food composition database, many fruits have no composition data available. Because of this gap in composition data for tropical fruits, there are many opportunities for research into the nutrient and phytochemical composition of these fruits. Table 3 presents tropical fruits for which no composition data is available from the USDA "What's in the Foods You Eat?" search tool.Table 3. Tropical fruits lacking compositional information from the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference
Common name
Scientific name
Abiu
Pouteria caimito
Ambarella
Spondias dulcis Forst., Spondias cytherea Sonn
Annon (sugar apple, custard apple)
Annonaceae squamosa
Araza (Araçá-boi)
Eugenia stipitata
Black carrot
Daucus carota
Black sapote (chocolate pudding fruit)
Diospyros digyna, Diospyros obtusifolia
Camu-camu (camocamo, cacari)
Myrciaria dubia
Cashew fruit (cashew apple)
Anacardium occidentale
Cili fruit (chestnut rose)
Rosa roxburghii tratt
Cupuacu
Theobroma grandiflorum
Jabuticaba (Brazilian grape tree)
Myrciaria cauliflora
Jackfruit
Artocarpus heterophyllus
Key lime
Citrus aurantifolia
Monstera (ceriman)
Monstera deliciosa
Pitahaya (dragonfruit, strawberry pear)
Hylocereus undatus and hybrids
Pupunha (Pejibaye, peach palm, pewa, peach nut, pejibave)
Bactris gasipaes
Sea buckthorn
Hippophae rhamnoides
Wax jambu (Java apple)
Syzygium samarangense, Syzygium javanicum, Eugenia javanica
White sapote
Casimiroa edulis
Wolfberry
Lycium pallidum, Lycium chinense
References
1. Hu FB. Plant-based foods and prevention of cardiovascular disease: an overview. Am J Clin Nutr. 2003; 78(suppl): 544S-551S.2. Van Duyn MA, Pivonka E. Overview of the health benefits of fruit and vegetable consumption for the dietetics professional: Selected literature. J Am Diet Assoc. 2000; 100: 1511-1521.
3. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Florida Agriculture Statistical Directory 2005 [Internet]. 2005 [cited 2006 August 15]. Available from: http://www.florida-agriculture.com/pubs/pubform/pdf/Florida_Agricultural_Statistical_Directory.pdf
4. United States Department of Agriculture. What's in the Foods You Eat Search Tool 1.0 [Internet]. 2007 [cited 2007 June 21 ]. Available from: http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=7783
5. United States Department of Agriculture. USDA Food Composition Data: USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference Release 18 [Internet]. 2005 Sept 23 [cited 2007 June 21]. Available from: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/
6. United States Food and Drug Administration. Food Labeling Guide [Internet]. 1994 Sept, revised 1999 June [cited 2006 Sept 27]. Available from: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/flg-7a.html
7. Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health and Human Services. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21, Volume 2 [Internet]. 2002 Apr 1 [cited 2006 September 9]. Available from: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/CF101-54.HTML
8. Morton JF. Fruits of Warm Climates [Internet]. Winterville, NC: Creative Resource Systems; 1987, updated 2000 Mar 17 [cited 2006 September 15]. Available from: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/index.html
9. United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Library. DRI Tables [Internet]. 2007 Aug 4 [cited 2007 May 4]. Available from: http://riley.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=4&tax_level=3&tax_subject=256&topic_id=1342&level3_id=5140
10. Mezadri T, Perez-Galvez A, Hornero-Mendez D. Carotenoid pigments in acerola fruits (Malpighia emarginata DC) and derived products. Eur Food Res Technol. 2005; 220: 63-69.
11. Setiawan B, Sulaeman A, Giraud DW, Driskell JA. Carotenoid content of selected Indonesian Fruits. J Food Comp Anal. 2001; 14: 169-176.
12. Mahattanatawee K, Manthey JA, Luzio G, Talcott ST, Goodner K, Baldwin EA. Total antioxidant activity and fiber content of select Florida-grown tropical fruits. J Agric Food Chem. 2006 Sep 20;54(19): 7355-7363.
13. Pontes PV, Moreira RFA, Trugo LC, DeMaria CAB. The content of chlorogenic acids in tropical fruits. J Sci Food Agric. 2002; 82: 1177-1181.
14. Ma J, Luo XD, Protiva P, Yang H, Ma C, Basile MJ, Weinstein IB, Kennelly EJ. Bioactive novel polyphenols from the fruit of Manilkara zapota (sapodilla). J Nat Prod. 2003 Jul;66(7): 983-6.
15. Talcott ST, Percival SS, Pittet-Moore J, Celoria C. Phytochemical composition and antioxidant stability of fortified yellow passion fruit (Passiflora edulis). J Agric Food Chem. 2003 Feb 12;51(4): 935-41.
16. Nogata, Y, Sakamoto, K, Shiratsuchi, H, Ishii, T, Yano, M, and Ohta, H. Flavonoid composition of fruit tissues of citrus species. Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem. 2006;70(1): 178-192.
Tables
Table 1. Nutrient composition of tropical fruits
Common name
Scientific
name
USDA food
composition form
Amount
Fiber
(g)
Vitamin
A (RAE)
Vitamin
C (mg)
Calcium (mg)
Iron
(mg)
Folate
(mcg)
Potassium
(mg)
Acerola (Barbados cherry)
Malpighia glabra
Juice
1 cup (8 oz.)
0.7
60
3872
24
1.21
34
235
Fruit (raw)
½ cup
0.5
19
822
6
0.1
7
72
Asian pear
Pyrus pyrifolia
Fruit
½ cup
3
0
3.2
3
0
7
100
Avocado
Persea americana
Fruit
½ cup
5
5
7.5
9
0.41
61
364
Banana
Musa paradisiaca
Fruit
½ cup
1.9
2
6.5
4
0.20
15
268
Carambola (Star fruit)
Averrhoa carambola
Fruit
½ cup
1.5
2
19
2
0.04
6
72
Cherimoya
Annona cherimola
Fruit
½ cup
1.8
0
9
6
0.23
14
210
Coconut
Cocos nucifera
Fruit (raw)
½ cup
3.6
0
1.3
6
0.97
10
142
Durian
Durio zibethinus
Fruit
½ cup
4.6
2
24
7
0.52
44
530
Guanabana (Soursop)
Annona muricata
Fruit
½ cup
3.7
0
23
16
0.68
16
313
Guava (red)
Psidium guajava
Fruit
½ cup
4.5
26
188
15
0.21
40
344
Kumquat
Fortunella spp.
Fruit
½ cup
5.4
12
36
51
0.71
14
154
Longan (Dragon's eye)
Dimocarpus longan
Fruit
½ cup
0.9
NA 70
1
0.11
NA
221
Lychee
Litchi chinensis
Fruit
½ cup
1.2
0
68
5
0.29
13
162
Mammee apple
Mammea americana
Fruit
½ cup
2.5
10
12
9
0.58
12
39
Mango
Mangifera indica
Fruit
½ cup
1.5
31
23
8
0.11
12
129
Papaya
Carica papaya
Fruit
½ cup
1.3
38
43
17
0.07
27
180
Passion fruit
Passiflora edulis
Juice
1 cup (8 oz.)
0.5
89
74
10
0.60
17
687
Pitanga (Surinam cherry)
Eugenia uniflora
Fruit
½ cup
NA 65
23
8
0.17
NA
89
Plantain
Musa x paradisiaca L.
Fruit
½ cup
1.7
41
14
2
0.44
16
369
Pummelo
Citrus grandis
Fruit
½ cup
0.9
0
58
4
0.10
NA
205
Sapodilla
Manilkara zapota
Fruit
½ cup
6.4
4
18
25
0.96
17
233
Mamey sapote
Pouteria sapota
Fruit
½ cup
2.2
17
17
32
0.83
NA
286
Table 2. Carotenoid and phenolic compounds identified in select tropical fruits
Fruit
Scientific Name
Cryptoxanthin
Lycopene
Beta-carotene
General Phenolic
4-CQA
5-CQA
Catechins
Acerola
Malpighia glabra
x
x
Banana
Musa spp. and hybrids
x
x
x
x
Guava
Psidium guajava
x
x
x
x
Mango
Mangifera indica
x
x
x
x
x
Papaya
Carica papaya
x
x
x
Starfruit (carambola)
Averrhoa carambola
x
x
x
x
Sapodilla
Manilkara zapota
x
x
x
Mamey sapote
Pouteria sapota
x
x
Footnotes
1. This document is FSHN 07-08, one of a series of the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, IFAS, University of Florida. First published September 2007. Please visit the EDIS Web site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.2. Susan S. Percival, professor, Food Science and Human Nutrition Department, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville FL 32611, and Brooke Findley, M.S., Nutritionist, Wake County Human Services, Raleigh, NC.
The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Larry Arrington, Dean.
Copyright Information
This document is copyrighted by the University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) for the people of the State of Florida. UF/IFAS retains all rights under all conventions, but permits free reproduction by all agents and offices of the Cooperative Extension Service and the people of the State of Florida. Permission is granted to others to use these materials in part or in full for educational purposes, provided that full credit is given to the UF/IFAS, citing the publication, its source, and date of publication.