CARACTERÍSTICAS FÍSICA E QUÍMICA DE FRUTOS DE QUIXABA (Sideroxylon obtusifolium Penn.)

Abstract

The physical and chemical characteristics of quixaba fruits (Sideroxylon obtusifolium Penn.) the chop 2003/2004, harvested in Santa Terezinha region of State of Bahia, Brazil. It was used 450 fruits harvested at random the following physical and chemical analyses: pH, Soluble Solid (SS), Total Acidity (TA), ratio SS/TA, density, diameter, length, and volume of the fruits and pulp yield. The following average values were obtained: 24.13º Brix; pH 4.35, TA 0.4%, ratio SS/AT 63.32 and poor pulp yield (20.89%), which is compensated by the high fruit productivity per plant. The chemical analysis of quixaba¿s fruits presented desirable characteristics for industrialization. The Quixabeira is an alternative of native fruit for exploration in Semi-Arid region. Index terms: Native fruits, Semi-arid region, Quixabeira