Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T05:03:13.300Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An Amazonian fruit with a high potential as a natural source of vitamin C: the camu-camu (Myrciaria dubia)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2002

Roberta B. Rodrigues ,
Hilary C. De Menezes ,
Lourdes M.C. Cabral ,
Manuel Dornier  and
Max Reynes
Roberta B. Rodrigues
Affiliation:
University of Campinas, Food Technology Dept. (FEA / Unicamp), Cidade Universitária Zeferino Vaz, C.P. 6121, 13083-970 Campinas, S.P., Brazil
Hilary C. De Menezes
Affiliation:
University of Campinas, Food Technology Dept. (FEA / Unicamp), Cidade Universitária Zeferino Vaz, C.P. 6121, 13083-970 Campinas, S.P., Brazil
Lourdes M.C. Cabral
Affiliation:
Embrapa, Agroindustria de Alimentos, Av. das Américas, 29501 Guaratiba, 23020-470 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Manuel Dornier
Affiliation:
Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement, Cirad-flhor, Av. Agropolis, TA 50/PS4, 34398 Montpellier Cedex 5, France École nationale supérieure des Industries alimentaires, Tropical Food Dept. (Ensia-Siarc), BP 5098, 34033 Montpellier Cedex 1, France
Max Reynes
Affiliation:
Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement, Cirad-flhor, Av. Agropolis, TA 50/PS4, 34398 Montpellier Cedex 5, France École nationale supérieure des Industries alimentaires, Tropical Food Dept. (Ensia-Siarc), BP 5098, 34033 Montpellier Cedex 1, France
Get access

Abstract

The plant. The camu-camu [Myrciaria dubia (H.B.K.) Mc. Vaugh] is a shrub from the Myrtaceae family. It grows naturally in floodable and swampy areas of the Amazonian basin. This plant is cultivated in Peru and Brazil with fruit yields ranging from (12 to 20) t × ha-1 × year-1. The fruit. The fruit, from (1 to 3) cm in diameter, is pink to dark purple; it is the highest known source of natural vitamin C, providing (850 to 5,000) mg mg × 100 g-1 edible portion. The market. In the last few years, both national and international demand for the camu-camu fruit has drastically increased for the production of health food or of natural vitamin C. The current fruit production is not sufficient to satisfy the market. Conclusion.M. dubia stands out amongst other Amazonian fruit species as having a high economic and social potential. Little information is available on its processing, showing the need for research in this area.

Keywords

AmazoniaBrazilPeruMyrciaria dubiataxonomybotanygeographical distributioncultivationchemical compositionascorbic acidmarketsprocessingAmazonieBrésilPérouMyrciaria dubiataxonomiebotaniquedistribution geographiquepratique culturalecomposition chimiqueacide ascorbiquemarchétraitement
Type
Research Article
Information
Fruits , Volume 56 , Issue 5 , September 2001 , pp. 345 - 354
Copyright
© CIRAD, EDP Sciences

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Silva S., Tassara H., Frutas do Brasil, Empresa das Artes, S ao Paulo, 1996.
Alvarado Vertiz M.A., Posibilidades del cultivo del camu-camu en el Peru Myrciaria dubia, Monografia graduaçao, Pontificia Univ. Catolica del Peru, Lima, 1969.
Andrade J.S., Curvas de maturaçao e características nutricionais do camu-camu [Myrciaria dubia (H.B.K.) Mc. Vaugh] cultivado em terra firme da Amazônia Central, Ph.D. thesis, Univ. Campinas, Fac. Food Eng., Brazil, 1991.
Ferreyra, H.R., El camu-camu nueva fuente natural de vitamina C, Bol. Exp. Agropecuaria (Lima) 7 (1959) 28-31.
Villachica L.H., El cultivo del camu-camu Myrciaria dubia (H.B.K.) Mc. Vaugh en la Amazônia Peruana, Tratado de Cooperacion Amazonica, Lima, Peru, 1996.
Villachica L.H., Frutales y hortalizas promisórios de la Amazônia, Proyecto FAO/GCP/ RLA/118/NET, Lima, Peru, 1996.
Silva S.E.L., De Souza A. das G.C., Avaliaçao do desempenho do camu-camu [Myrciaria dubia (H.B.K.) Mc. Vaugh] em terra firme na regiao de Manaus, AM, Embrapa-CPAA, Manaus, Brazil, 1996.
Ferreira, F.R., Ferreira, S.A.N., Carvalho, F.E.U., Especies frutiferas pouco exploradas com potential economico e social para o Brasil, Rev. Bras. Frutic. 9 (1987) 11-12.
Falcao M.A., Ferreira S.A.N., Chávez F., Clement C.R., Aspectos fenológicos e ecológicos de camu-camu [Myrciaria dubia (H.B.K.) Mc Vaugh] na terra firme da Amazônia central, in: Anais Congresso Brasileiro de Fruticultura, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brasil, 10, 1989, pp. 59-64,
Clay J.W., Clement C.R., Selected species and strategies to enhance income generation from Amazonian forest, Forestry working paper, FAO, Roma, Italy, 1993.
Zapata, S.M, Dufour, J.B., Camu-camu Myrciaria dubia (H.B.K.) Mc. Vaugh: chemical composition of fruit, J. Sci. Food Agric. 61 (1993) 349-351. CrossRef
Andrade, J.S., Aragao, C.G., Galeazzi, M.A.M., Ferreira, S.A.N., Changes in concentration of total vitamin C during maturation and ripening of camu-camu [Myrciaria dubia (H.B.K) Mc. Vaugh] fruits cultivated in the upland of Brasil (Central Amazon), Acta Hortic. 370 (1995) 177-180. CrossRef
Gomez, P., Reynes, M., Dornier, M., Hébert, J.P., La cerise des Antilles : une exceptionnelle source de vitamine C naturelle, Fruits 54 (1999) 247-260.
Anonymous, Natural food-fruit vitamin C content, The Natural Food Hub, http://naturalhub.com/natural_food_guide_fruit_vitamin_c.htm, UHIS, 2000.
Franco, M.R., Shimabamoto, T., Volatiles composition of some Brazilian fruits: umbu-caja (Sondias citherea), camu-camu (Myrciaria dubia), araça-boi (Eugenia stipitata) and cupuaçu (Theobroma grandiflorum), J. Agric. Food Chem. 48 (2000) 1263-1265. CrossRef
Anonymous, El camu camu, fuente de vitamina C, Organización de Estados Iberoamericanos para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura, Servicio Informativo Iberoamericano, Mayo 1999 (2), Brazil, http://www.oei.org.co/ sii/entrega15/art06.htm.
Calzada Benza J., 143 frutales nativos, Librería El Estudiante, Lima, Peru, 1980.
Clement, C.R., Food and fruit-bearing forest species. 3: examples from Latin America, FAO Forest. Paper (Roma) 44 (1986) 201-203.
Rodrigues R.B., Dib Taxi C.M., Campos F.P., Menezes H.C., Whole camu-camu (Myrciaria dubia) juice: extraction, optimisation and sensory evaluation, 10th World Cong. Food Sci. Technol., Sydney, Australia, 3-8 October 1999.
Campos F.P., Otimizaçao da extraçao e avaliaçao da vida de prateleira do suco integral de camu-camu (Myrciaria dubia), Relatório final do projeto de iniciaçao científica desenvolvido com apoio financeiro, Fapesp, Brazil, 1999.
Rodrigues R.B., Cabral L.M.C., Menezes de H.C., Estudo do processo de microfiltraçao na clarificaçao e esterilizaçao a frio de suco de camu-camu, XVII Congresso Brasileiro de Ciência e Tecnologia de Alimentos, Univ. federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Brasil, vol. 2, 2000.