Quality and Antioxidant Activity during Ripening of Fruits from Yellow Mombin (Spondias mombin L.) Genotypes

The objective of this research was to evaluate the bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity during ripening of yellow mombin fruits harvested at three maturity stages (totally green, breaker, and totally yellow skin) from cloned genotypes and progenies. Six genotypes were selected, three grown from seeds (progeny) and three grown from stalks (clones). Fruits were evaluated for soluble solids (SS), titratable acidity (TA), SS/TA ratio, total soluble sugars (TSS), reducing sugars (RS), starch, ascorbic acid, total chlorophyll, carotenoids, yellow flavonoids, total extractable polyphenols (TEP), and antioxidant activity by the beta-carotene/acid linoleic method. The experimental design was the completely randomized. For each genotype evaluated, there was an increase in SS, TSS, RS, TEP, and total carotenoids followed by a decline in TA, starch, and total chlorophyll contents as maturation proceeded. For the inhibition of oxidation, the results demonstrated that yellow mombin fruit presents high antioxidant activity. In general, fruits from cloned genotypes showed superior quality.