An integrative analytical study of the functional and antioxidant properties of selected varieties of pink guava Psidium guajava L.
Résumé
(Guava (Psidium guajava L.) is a tropical fruit widely consumed around the world. The study was
carried out on four selected guava varieties grown in Martinique. Two fruit harvests were gathered at two-year
intervals, at the green/yellow color change maturity stage. First, we established the homogeneity of all fruit
batches by bootstrapping, ANOVA, box plot and multiple comparison statistical analysis on physical
parameters. Red Supreme Ruby clearly differs from the other three varieties, whereas the results for Centeno
Prolific are between Beauséjour and Enana Cuba. We determined on puree obtained from a homogeneous
batch of each variety the physicochemical and functional properties as well as the antioxidant properties. Our
results show that the combination of lycopene and vitamin C, and their synergistic mechanisms in the fruit
extracts may be responsible for the high antioxidant activity of guava puree, and we demonstrate a statistically
significant positive correlation between EC50 and lycopene.