Atividade antioxidante de frutos de fisális

Abstract

A few years ago, Brazilians are changing eating habits, starting to consume larger quantities of fresh and organic products. Among these foods that promote health improvement, there are several fruits, among them, physalis. It belongs to the family Solanaceae, the physalis has high acceptance worldwide due to the fruit flavor and medicinal characteristics. The objective of this work was to evaluate the antioxidant activity of fruits of two species of physalis (Physalis pubescens and P. peruviana). The cultivation was carried out in the West of Santa Catarina, with the fruits harvested when the capsules presented yellow straw color and divided into three groups: fresh, chilled and frozen. Were evaluated pH, total soluble solids, total soluble sugars, titratable acidity, phenolic compounds, vitamin C and antioxidant activity. The fresh fruits of both species showed better results for most of the analyzed parameters in relation to the refrigerated and frozen fruits. The antioxidant activity was higher in fruits of Physalis pubescens, undergoing decline when submitted to low temperatures. For P. peruviana, this activity remained unchanged, independently, from the storage condition to which the fruits were submitted.