Nutritional and phytochemical composition of Annona cherimola Mill. fruits and by-products: Potential health benefits

Annona cherimola Mill., commonly known as cherimoya, is a tropical fruit well known due to its tasty flavour. In the present study the antioxidant activity of pulp, peel and seeds of four cultivars from A. cherimola Mill. from Madeira Island (Madeira, Funchal, Perry Vidal and Mateus II) was analysed. Moreover, nutritional composition (proximates and vitamins) and bioactive compounds content were determined. The peel of Madeira cultivar showed the highest antioxidant capacity, with an EC50 of 0.97 mg/mL, and total flavonoids (44.7 epicatechin equivalents/100 g). The most abundant carotenoid was lutein, with values ranging from 129 to 232 μg/100 g. The highest l-ascorbic acid content (4.41 mg/100 g) was found in the peel of Perry Vidal cultivar. These results highlight A. cherimola Mill. antioxidant properties, especially in its by-products and encourage their application in cosmetic, pharmaceutical and food processing industries, as added value natural extracts.Authors would like to thank “Terra Cidade” company and “Direcção Regional de Agricultura e Desenvolvimento Rural” from Madeira Island, which kindly provided cherimoya cultivars. This work was funded by National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge (INSA), I.P. under the project “Bioactive compounds and its potential health benefits” (2012DAN730). Tânia Gonçalves Albuquerque is grateful for the research grant (BRJ/DAN-2012) funded by INSA