Phytochemical and antioxidant characterization of mamey (Pouteria sapota Jacq. H.E. Moore & Stearn) fruit Elhadi M. Yahia ⁎, Fabiola Gutiérrez-Orozco, Claudia Arvizu-de Leon Phytochemistry and Nutrition Laboratory, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro, Avenida de las Ciencias S/N, Juriquilla, 76230, Querétaro, Qro., Mexico abstract article info Article history: Received 13 September 2010 Accepted 14 November 2010 Keywords: Pouteria sapota Mamey Phytochemicals Antioxidant capacity HPLC–MS analysis Phytochemical compounds in fruits and vegetables have gained great importance in the last few years because of the increasing evidence suggesting their antioxidant and prevention of chronic diseases. Carotenoids, phenolics, flavonoids, and vitamins E and C, are among these phytochemicals. Several fruits have been characterized so far for their antioxidant and health properties but there is still limited information on fruits from the tropic. Therefore, the objective of this study was the characterization of mamey fruit (Pouteria sapota Jacq. H. E. Moore & Stearn) with regard to their antioxidant capacity and phytochemical profile. Phenolics, carotenoids and δ-tocopherol were quantified and identified by HPLC–DAD–Mass Spectrometry (LC–MS), and DPPH and FRAP assays were used to evaluate antioxidant capacity. Hydrophilic extracts of mamey fruit showed higher antioxidant capacity than the lipophilic portion. Total soluble phenols content was 28.5 mg GAE/100 g fw, being p-hydroxybenzoic acid as the main phenolic that was identified. Total carotenoid content was 1127.9 μg β-carotene/100 g fw with β-carotene being the main contributor, in addition to lutein, and violoxanthin. Concentration of δ-tocopherol was 360.0 μg/100 g fw. Results of this study suggest that mamey fruit is a good source of carotenoids and its inclusion in the diet is recommended. © 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd. 1. Introduction The incidence of chronic degenerative diseases such as cancer, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes has increased in the last decades as a result of changes of diet and lifestyle habits, among other possible causes. Growing scientific evidence suggests an inverse relationship between the consumption of fruits and vegetables and the development of these disorders (Yahia and Ornelas-Paz, 2010; Ames, Shigenaga, & Hagen, 1993; Arts & Hollman, 2005; Dillard & German, 2000; Eastwood, 1999; Esterbauer, Dieber-Rotheneder, Striegl, & Waeg, 1991; Ness & Powles, 1997; Prior & Cao, 2000; Riboli & Norat, 2003; Verlangieri, Kapeghian, el-Dean, & Bush, 1985). In addition to providing essential nutrients, fruits and vegetables also contain several other phytochemicals which have been suggested as responsible for health benefits due to their antioxidant properties and other positive effects (Yahia and Ornelas-Paz, 2010; Wu, Beecher, et al., 2004; Wu, Gu, et al., 2004; Di Majo et al., 2005; da Costa, Ballus, Teixeira-Filho, & Teixeira Godoy, 2010). Phytochemicals are capable of neutralizing the effects of free radicals, thought to be associated with damage to proteins, DNA, cell membranes, etc. giving raise to chronic diseases associated with aging (Ames et al., 1993). Among these compounds, phenolics are believed to provide, at least in part, this antioxidant capacity (AOC) (Duthie, Duthie, & Kyle, 2000; Wang, Cao, & Prior, 1996). Other phytochemical compounds include carotenoids, which have also been related to pre- vention of several chronic diseases (Krinsky, Landrum, & Bone, 2003; Stahl & Sies, 2005; Yahia, 2010; Yahia and Ornelas-Paz, 2010). In addition, vitamins C and E contribute to the antioxidant capacity of foods (Galano, Vargas, & Martínez, 2010; Pellegrini et al., 2007). Although several fruits have been studied, characterization of fruits from the tropic is still very limited (Sreeramulu & Raghunath, 2010). Mamey (Pouteria sapota H.E. Moore & Stearn) is a tropical fruit from the Sapotaceae family, native to Mexico and Central America. The fruit of mamey has received little attention and research in spite of its popularity in production areas, high potential for commercialization in international markets, and the high carotenoid content found in the pulp (Morton, 1987) making it nutritionally attractive, especially in areas where vitamin A deficiency is a problem. Thus, the characterization of phytochemicals especially those with antioxidant activity, such as phenolics, carotenoids, and vitamins E and C in mamey fruit is very important. The objective of this work was the characterization of fruits of mamey with regard to their antioxidant capacity and phytochemical content by using high perfor- mance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. 2. Materials and methods 2.1. Reagents Reagents were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, Mo., U.S.A.) unless otherwise stated. Standard purity was ≥97% for β-carotene, Food Research International 44 (2011) 2175–2181 ⁎ Corresponding author. Phytochemistry and Nutrition Laboratory, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Autonomous University of Queretaro, Avenida de las Ciencias, Juriquilla, 76230, Querétaro, Qro., Mexico. Tel.: +52 442 192 1200x5304; fax: +52 442 234 2958. E-mail address: yahia@uaq.mx (E.M. Yahia). 0963-9969/$ – see front matter © 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd. doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2010.11.029 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Food Research International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodres