[Chemical characterization of the jabuticaba fruits (Myrciaria cauliflora Berg) and their fractions].

Jabuticaba, Myrciaria cauliflora Berg, is a native Brazilian fruit; very little is known about the chemistry of its components, specially the bioactives compounds. The purpose of this paper was to determine the centesimal composition and some bioactives compounds of the whole fruit and fractions of two varieties of jabuticaba (Paulista and Sabará). The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design on a 4 x 2 x 3 factorial scheme (4 factors: whole fruit, skin, pulp and seed; 2 varieties: Paulista e Sabará, and 3 replicates). The fruits were sampled, selected, weighted, sanitized and fractionated into whole fruit, skin, pulp and seed that were grinded, frozen and lyophilized to a constant weight. Protein contents and of ether extract were low for all fractions. The ash contents indicate elevated levels of minerals, specially on the Sabará variety. The content of alimentary fibers differed widely among fractions, with no differences between varieties. The skin fractions presented the highest levels of fiber, 33.80 g/100 g on Paulista and 33.23 g/100 g on Sabará, most of it was insoluble fibers. The greatest amount of non nitrogen extract was found in the pulp fraction, while the lowest was found in the skin, with no differences between varieties. Regarding bioactives compounds, only polyphenols were presented at considerable levels in all the fractions but the pulp one, showing the need for better characterization before using the fruit in the food industry.