PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF SOME TROPICAL FRUITS

They were determined the physical and chemical properties, antioxidant capacity and mineral content of tropical fruit respectively: : passion fruit (Passiflora edulis), carambola (Averrhoa carambola), sweet pepino (Solanum muricatum), guava (Psidium guajava), goldenberry (Physalis peruviana) and goji berries (Lycium chinense. Fruits were purchased on the market from imports. It was found a wide variability concerning fruits size and weight by species. The fruit size index ranged from 9.24 in goji berries to 75.78 in sweet pepino. The individual fruit weight ranged between 0.45 g in goji berries to 208.7 g in sweet pepino. The highest content of dry matter was found in passion fruit (27.59%) and the lowest value was recorded in sweet pepino (5.93%). Also, in goji berries and goldenberry we found high values of dry matter content. It is found that all analyzed species contain appreciable amounts of polyphenols, ranging from 26 201 mg/ l equiv gallic acid in goldenberry fruits and 141.966 mg / l gallic acid equiv in goji berries. The highest values of potassium content was found in goji berries (422.34 mg/100 g fm) while carambola fruit were recorded the lowest values (140 832 mg/100 g fm).