Physical and physicochemical characterization of 'mangabeira' fruits (Hancornia speciosa Gomes) in Western Bahia

The 'mangaba' is widely used by agribusiness, as compared to other native fruits of Northeast, especially in the Cerrado biome for food utilization. This study aimed to evaluate the physical and physicochemical characterization of 'mangabeira' fruits in the western region of Bahia. Three hundred fruits were sampled from ten matrices, which were collected in an area of the municipalities of Angical, Barreiras and St Desiderio and conducted to the Seed Laboratory of UNEB. For the physical assessments, longitudinal and transversal diameters of the fruit, fruit weight, total seed weight per fruit, weight of the pulp and peel, and yield of pulp and peel were considered. As for the physicochemical evaluations, the fruit pulp was subjected to the determinations of pH, soluble solids content, titratable acidity and ratio. For the variables, longitudinal and transversal diameters, the weight of pulp and peel, seed weight, fruit weight and yield of pulp and peel, the means were, respectively, 32.34 and 31.87 mm, 14.77, 2.40 and 17.17 g and 85.93%. With regard to pH, SS, AT and ratio (SS/AT), the means were 3.93, 17.04 degrees Brix, 0.98 and 18.62. The results indicated that there are statistically significant differences between all variables evaluated.