CARACTERIZAÇÃO PÓS-COLHEITA DE FRUTOS DE MARACUJÁ-ROXO CULTIVADOS EM SISTEMA CONVENCIONAL E ORGÂNICO

Cultivares de maracujá-roxo desenvolvidas regionalmente podem contribuir para o aumento da produção de frutos de qualidade atendendo às necessidades do mercado. Objetivou-se avaliar os frutos de maracujá-roxo, obtidos em sistemas de cultivo convencional e orgânico. Os frutos foram colhidos em estágio de maturação comercial (casca totalmente roxa) e analisados quanto à caracterização físico-química, centesimal, compostos bioativos e capacidade antioxidante. Os frutos analisados apresentaram maiores valores médios para o rendimento de polpa e sólidos solúveis em sistema convencional, que foram de 49,04% e 13,86 °Brix. O valor calórico energético foi de 45,95 kcal/100 g em sistema orgânico, indicando que o consumo do fruto “maduro” pode ser realizado a fim de suprir as necessidades energéticas diárias. As polpas dos frutos de maracujá-roxo estudados demonstraram serem fontes importantes de componentes bioativos, com respaldo aos elevados valores médios para ácido ascórbico e polifenóis extraíveis totais em ambos os sistemas de cultivo. Palavras-chave: Passiflora edulis Sims; manejo; sólidos solúveis; compostos fenólicos. Postharvest characterization of purple passion fruits cultivated in conventional and organic system ABSTRACT: Regionally developed purple passion fruit cultivars can contribute to the increase in the production of quality fruits, meeting marked needs. The objective of this study was to evaluate the purple passion fruits, obtained in conventional and organic cultivation systems. The fruits were harvested at the stage of commercial maturation (totally purple peel) and analyzed for characterization of the physicochemical, centesimal composition, bioactive compounds and antioxidant capacity. The analyzed fruits showed higher average values ​​for pulp yield and soluble solids in a conventional system, which were 49.04% and 13.86 °Brix. The caloric energetic value was 45.95 kcal/100 g in organic system, indicating that the consumption of the “ripe” fruit can be carried out in order to meet the daily energy needs. The pulps of the purple passion fruit studied proved to be important sources of bioactive components, supported by the high mean values ​​for ascorbic acid and total extractable polyphenols in both farming systems. Keywords: Passiflora edulis Sims; management; soluble solids; phenolic compounds.

Determination of total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of fruit mix from Malino, Gowa Regency, South Sulawesi

This study aimed to determine the total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of single fruit extracts and mixtures of tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum), purple passion fruit (Passiflora edulis var. Sims), and strawberries (Fragaria sp.). Tomatoes, purple passion fruit and strawberries were extracted using 96% ethanol as solvent using the maceration method. Determination of total phenolic content using the Folin-ciocalteu method, measurement of antioxidant activity using the DPPH method (1.1 diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazil) spectrophotometrically and measuring the degree of acidity (pH) using a pH meter. Data were analyzed using ANOVA with Tukey’s further test. The results showed that the total phenolic content of tomatoes, purple passion fruit and strawberries before and after mixing were tomato extract (1,731 mg GAE/g), purple passion fruit extract (1,577 mg GAE/g), strawberry extract (1,917 mg GAE)./g), tomato and purple passion fruit extract (1,758 mg GAE/g), tomato and strawberry extract (2,020 mg GAE/g), strawberry and purple passion fruit extract (1,924 mg GAE/g) and tomato, purple passion fruit extract and strawberries (2.107 mg GAE/g). The antioxidant activity showed that there was a significant difference between the purple passion fruit treatments (78.695%), tomatoes and strawberries (86.160%) and tomatoes, purple passion fruit and strawberries (88.328%), but not significantly different from the tomatoes (80.683 %), tomatoes and purple passion fruit (82,059 %) as well as the treatment of strawberries (83.690 %), strawberries and purple passion fruit (84.097 %), but significantly different from the BHA control (93.526 %). It can be concluded that the total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of the mixed extracts of the three fruits, namely tomatoes, purple passion fruit and strawberries, were higher than those of the single fruit extracts without mixing.

Fusarium nirenbergiae (Fusarium oxysporum Species Complex) Causing the Wilting of Passion Fruit in Italy

Passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims.) is an ever-increasing interest crop in Italy because it is mainly cultivated for its edible fruit and, secondly, as an ornamental evergreen climber. During the summer of 2020, two-year-old plants of purple passion fruit in one of the most important expanding production areas of Sicily (southern Italy) showed symptoms of yellowing, wilting, and vascular discoloration. Fusarium-like fungal colonies were consistently yielded from symptomatic crown and stem tissues. Five representative isolates were characterized by a morphological and molecular analysis based on a multilocus phylogeny using RNA polymerase’s second largest subunit (RPB2) and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF-1α) genes, as Fusarium nirenbergiae (Fusarium oxysporum species complex). Pathogenicity tests conducted on healthy 1-year-old passion fruit cuttings revealed symptoms similar to those observed in the field. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Fusarium wilt on passion fruit caused by Fusarium nirenbergiae. This report focuses on the phytopathological implications of this fungal pathogen, which may represent a future significant threat for the expanding passion fruit production in Italy and Europe.

Effect of Purple Passion Fruit Extract Cream (Passiflora edulis Sims var. Edulis) 6% against Striae Distensae

ABSTRACT Background: Striae distensae is a skin disorder that causes cosmetic and psychological problems. Purple passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims var. Edulis) is widely cultivated, especially in North Sumatra. The seeds are abundant and unused industrial waste. Purple passion fruit seeds contain piceatannol, ascorbic acid, flavonoids, resveratrol, hydroalcohols and sterols which play a role in the repair of striae distensae through anti-inflammatory mechanisms, increase fibroblast proliferation and collagen production, increase crosslinking between collagen fibers and moisturizers. Objective: To determine the effect of 6% purple passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims var. Edulis) seed extract cream on striae distensae. Subjects and Methods: This study is a pre-experimental clinical trial with a pretest-posttest research design on 40 subjects with striae distensae. Diagnosis was confirmed by history and clinical evaluation using the Manchester scar scale before and after administration of 6% purple passion fruit extract cream at weeks 0, 2, 4, 6, 8. Adverse effects were recorded during the study and satisfaction levels were assessed at the end. Results: The majority of subjects' ages ranged from 29 to 39 years (72.5%). There was a significant reduction in Manchester scar scale in striae distensae, both after being given a 6% purple passion fruit extract cream or a combination of 1% tretinoin cream for 8 weeks, with a mean reduction of 25% (p = 0.000). Striae distensae after being given 6% purple passion fruit extract cream compared to 6% purple passion fruit extract cream combined with 1% tretinoin cream, there was no significant difference (p = 0.791). From a total of 40 subjects, none experienced side effects (0%). As many as 57.5% of the subjects showed a good level of satisfaction. Conclusion: The use of 6% purple passion fruit seed extract cream can improve the appearance of striae distensae without side effects and the level of satisfaction is good.

First Report of Collar Rot in Purple Passion Fruit (Passiflora edulis) Caused by Neocosmospora solani in Yunnan province, China

Purple passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims) is a perennial climbing vine native to South America that is grown worldwide as an edible tropical fruit with excellent nutritional value and high economic value (Zibadi et al. 2007). With the increasing expansion of the plantation area in China, considerable economic loss caused by collar rot has attracted wide attention. From 2018-2020, collar rot resulted in the death of many plants of P. edulis 'Mantianxing', a commercial cultivar in China, in southwest China's Yunnan province. The disease spread quickly, and field incidence reached more than 50%. Stem rot symptoms were observed at the base of the stem, about 5-10 cm from the ground, resulting in wilting, defoliation, and death of plants. Representative symptomatic samples were collected from the base of five plants, surface disinfested for 30 seconds with 75% ethanol and 15 min with 10% hypochlorite, washed three times with sterile distilled water, then transferred to potato dextrose agar (PDA) dishes. After 2 days in the dark at 28℃, emerging fungal colonies were purified on new PDA dishes cultured at 28℃ for 7 days. The mycelia were flocculent. The color of the surface and the reverse colony was white and cream, respectively. On synthetic nutrient agar (SNA) medium, microconidia were oval, ellipsoidal or reniform, 0- or 1-septate, and 6.7-23.1 μm in length (n>30); macroconidia were straight to slightly curved, 3- or 5-septate, and 30.8-53.9 μm in length (n>30). Genomic DNA, extracted from six isolates, was amplified with three pairs of primers, ITS1 and ITS4 (White et al. 1990) , EF1-728F and EF1-986R (Carbone and Kohn 1999), and fRPB2-5F and fRPB2-7cR (Liu et al. 1999). The amplicons from all six isolates were sequenced and identical sequences obtained. The sequence of one representative isolate was uploaded to NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) and analyzed with BLASTn in the Fusarium MLST database (https://fusarium.mycobank.org). The sequence of the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) region (GenBank MN944550) showed 99.1% (449/453 bp) identity to Fusarium solani strain NRRL 53667 (syn: Neocosmospora solani, GenBank MH582405). The sequence of the translation elongation factor-1 (EF-1) gene (GenBank MN938933) showed 97.8% identity (263/269 bp) to F. solani strain NRRL 32828 (GenBank DQ247135). The sequence of the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase Ⅱ (RPB2) gene (GenBank MW002686) showed 98.7% identity (810/821 bp) to F. solani strain NRRL 43441 (GenBank MH582407). Based on a multilocus phylogenetic analysis of the ITS1, EF-1 and RPB2 sequences, coupled with the morphological characteristics, the isolate (designated as NsPed1) was considered to be Neocosmospora solani (syn: Fusarium solani) (Crespo et al. 2019). Subsequently, three-month-old healthy seedlings and 45-day-old cuttings of P. edulis 'Mantianxing' plants were inoculated with the isolate NsPed1 to test its pathogenicity. Stems were wounded, approximately 1-2 mm deep, in the collar region of plants at 2 cm above the soil. A disk (9 mm in diameter) of NsPed1-colonized PDA was placed on the wound. Sterile PDA served as controls. All plants were kept in a growth chamber with 28-30°C, 60% relative humidity, and 16/8-h light/dark photoperiod. Fifteen plants were used for each treatment and replicated three times. Two weeks after inoculation, the stems of the inoculated plants turned brown with a lesion, 2-5 cm in length, and the leaves wilted. These symptoms were similar to those of the diseased plants in the field. The control plants were asymptomatic. N. solani NsPed1 was re-isolated from the infected plants, satisfying Koch’s postulates. Taken together, N. solani NsPed1 was identified as the causal pathogen of collar rot in P. edulis 'Mantianxing'. Knowledge of the causal organism of collar rot in purple passion fruit will lead to improved measures to prevent and control the disease in China and other countries.

Review on the ecophysiology of important Andean fruits: Passiflora L.

The development of Andean fruit crops is viewed as an important and healthy contribution to global food consumption but ecophysiological studies on these fruit trees are scarce. 96% of approximately 520 Passiflora L. species are distributed in the Americas, especially in Colombia and Brazil. Many of these species originated on the edges of humid forests in tropical valleys. The four species: yellow passion fruit (Passiflora edulis f. flavicarpa Degener), sweet granadilla (Passiflora ligularis Juss.), purple passion fruit (Passiflora edulis f. edulis Sims) and banana passion fruit (Passiflora tripartita var. mollissima (Kunth) Holm-Niels & P.M. Jørg) are widely cultivated in Colombia, and their ecophysiological findings are described in this review. The demands, in terms of temperature (°C) and altitude (masl) are, for yellow passion fruits: 15-28 °C and 0-1,300 masl; sweet granadillas: 15-23 °C and 1,800-2,600 masl; purple passion fruits: 15-22/12-14 °C (day/night) and 1,600-2,300 masl; and banana passion fruit: 13-16 °C and 1.800-3.200 masl; all of them have high requirements for solar radiation, a minimum of 7 h of sunshine per day, to encourage flowering and fruit quality. Cloudy days decrease growth, flower bud induction and flower opening. Temperature and photosynthetic active radiation are the climatic factors that have the greatest effect on plant development. Relative humidity between 60 and 80% supports effective pollination and fecundation. Passiflora L. crops do not support long periods of waterlogging, with a maximum of 4 days for yellow passion fruit. Climatic events such as prolonged rain, intense droughts, strong winds and hail are harmful for these plants.