Metabolomic profiling of acerola clones according to the ripening stage

Acerola fruits possess important biological properties due to the presence of several bioactive compounds. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the metabolomic profiling of acerola fruits in different ripening stages using 1 H q NMR spectroscopy, and correlate it with ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and phenolic contents along with antioxidant activity. The usage of multivariate regression modeling permitted satisfactorily predict the concentrations of ascorbic acid for each ripening stage through whole 1 H NMR spectrum ( δ 0.6 to 9.3). Among the 38 different acerola clones investigated, four produced fruits with highest polyphenols content, others three produced fruits with highest amount of ascorbic acid, and only one presented fruits with highest antioxidant activity and relevant content of ascorbic acid and polyphenols. The ascorbate and aldarate metabolomic pathways were deeply related to the fruit ripening by multivariate statistical analysis. Furthermore, contents of ascorbic acid and total phenolics, fruits maturation stage and 1 H NMR results presented elevate relationship (less correlation for antioxidant activity), which highlighted the importance of the correlated evaluation of all variables to reach complementary and associated results. These findings are relevant to achieve valuable information of acerola fruits and correlated products for functional foods.