ABSTRACT
The red mombin fruit (Spondias purpurea L.) is a very popular fruit in the Brazilian Northeast, which has brought increasing interest for its commercial cultivation. Therefore, the aim of this research was to evaluate the physical and chemical characteristics of red mombin fruits from 11 genotypes cultivated in the Active Germplasm Bank of the Agronomic Institute of Pernambuco (IPA) located in the forest area north of Pernambuco. Mature fruits were evaluated according to their weight, longitudinal and transverse diameter, pH, soluble solids (SS), titratable acidity (TA), ascorbic acid, total soluble carbohydrate and total carotenoids. With respect to the physical characteristics, the results of the weight, the longitudinal and transverse diameter did not showed statistically significant difference. Concerning to the chemical characteristics, results showed that IPA-1 genotype exhibited the highest ascorbic acid content (32.88 mg 100g-1 pulp) and the IPA-7 genotype, the highest concentration of total carotenoids expressed as β-carotene (22.63 μg g-1 pulp). The highest levels of SS and TA were found in IPA-9 and IPA-10 genotypes, respectively. The IPA-4 genotype showed the highest SS/TA ratio, while the IPA-6 genotype differed from others because of its highest total soluble carbohydrates content expressed as glucose (32.78%). Therefore, it can conclude that genetic variability influenced on the physical-chemical characteristics evaluated
Key words:
Spondias purpurea L; purple mombin; fruit quality
