Artigo Acesso aberto Produção Nacional Revisado por pares

Cuantificación fisicoquímica en gorro turco [Melocactus zehntneri (Britton & Rose) Luetzelburg - Cactaceae]

2016; UNIVERSIDADE EST.PAULISTA JÚLIO DE MESQUITA FILHO; Volume: 18; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1590/1983-084x/15_044

ISSN

1983-084X

Autores

Ernane Nogueira Nunes, Danielle Martins Lemos, S.F SILVA, Ana Paula Trindade Rocha, Camilla Marques de Lucena, Marcos Vinícius Meiado, Reinaldo Farias Paiva de Lucena,

Tópico(s)

Plant and animal studies

Resumo

In Northeast Brazil, the use of melon cactus (Melocactus spp.) is quite common and varied. Thus, the present study aimed to perform various analyzes in cladodes of melon cactus [Melocactus zehntneri (Britton & Rose) Luetzelburg], to understand the reasons for the use of this species. The cladodes were collected in the city of Campina Grande and taken to the Food Engineering Laboratory of the Federal University of Campina Grande, where we performed the following analyses: mass, height, diameter, color, moisture, acidity, pH, ascorbic acid, carotenoids, flavonoids and phenolic compounds, both in the epidermis and in the aquifer parenchyma. The results showed that the epidermis has a higher acidity, ascorbic acid content and lower pH compared to the aquifer parenchyma. The contents of carotenoids, flavonoids and phenolic compounds, were different from the both parts analyzed. The epidermis always had greater quantities of carotenoids, flavonoids and phenolic compounds than the aquifer parenchyma for the three plants, showing that most of the plant defense takes place in this tissue. Further studies, with more accurate techniques, are needed to identify the bioactive components of this species.

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