Bioactive compounds in the peel of camu camu genotypes from Embrapa’s active germplasm bank

Abstract Our objective in this work was to evaluate the contents of the major bioactive compounds in the peel of three genotypes of camu camu at different maturity stages. The genotypes had high concentration of ascorbic acid in the peel ranging from 13.73% to 24.02%. In the ripe maturity stage the genotypes 17 and 44 presented the highest concentration of phenolics (3,299.97 mg GAE.100 g-1) and anthocyanins (165.91 g.100 g-1). Flavonols and carotenoids showed a distinct and statistically different behavior in each genotype. Genotype 44 in the ripe stage had the highest content of carotenoids (105.88 mg.100 g-1). The high contents of vitamin C and phenolic compounds make the residue of camu camu fruit processing a rich source of antioxidants to the food and/or pharmaceutical industries.