EVALUATION OF NUTRITIONAL AND ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES OF FRESH AND PICKLED AVERRHOA BILIMBI

摘要

Averrhoa bilimbi is nutrition - packed, starchy fruit that grows mostly on the trunk of tall trees and is arich source of ascorbic acid .Other than the vitamins, the fruit also contains fibre, ash, protein and moisture as well as minerals. Phytochemical screenings have shown the presence of carbohydrates, flavonoids, tannins and hydrolysable tannins. This study compared total phenolic (TPC), total flavonoid (TFC), -carotene, ascorbic acid (AA), carbohydrates, proteins, phytic acid, tannins contents and antioxidant properties between fresh and pickled A. bilimbi. The total antioxidant activity (% increase in reducing power) in A. bilimbi fresh fruit and pickled fruit were found to be 50% and 16.7% respectively. Ascorbic acid content in the fresh fruit and pickled fruit were found to be 14.3 and 7.2 mg/100 g, respectively. The tannin content in the fresh and pickled fruits were 4.3 μg/ml an d 2.86 μg/ml, respectively. The flavonoid content was found to be higher in the fresh fruit sample containing around 4 and 3 mg/ml of the pickled fruit. The phenol content was found to be 0.4 and 0.28 mg/ml of the fresh fruit and pickled fruit, respectively. The carbohydrate content was found to be 14.6 and 8.3 mg/ml of the fresh fruit and pickled fruit, respectively. The protein content was higher in the fresh fruit sample containing 93.3 and 5.3 μg/ml of the pickled fruit, Phytic acid content in the fresh fruit and pickled fruit were 0.11 and 0.09 mg/ml, respectively. The amount of - carotene in the fresh fruit and pickled fruit samples were 0.75 and 0.37μg/ml, respectively. The pickling process of bilimbi caused a significant decrease in their antioxidant component and activity.