Organic tropical and sub-tropical fruits consumption in the world is constantly increasing, due to growing interest for fruits characterized by pronounced flavor and aroma and high nutritional and functional properties. One of the main constraints of these fruits is to be the highly perishable. Processing options are needed to ensure their exploitation as new food and/or natural products. In this study, organic avocado (Persea americana Mill.) and sugar apple (Annona squamosa L.) fruits were collected from Tyre (Lebanon) to investigate their microbial diversity and to evaluate their exploitation as natural products through bioprocessing technology. A low diversity of lactic acid bacteria and yeasts associated with fruits was highlighted. Microbes were identified by partial 16s rRNA and 26S rDNA gene sequences, respectively. Fermentation protocol was set up depending on the fruit.
[...]
Avocado fruits were fermented with autochthonous lactic acid boicteria, whereas sugar apple fruits were exploited for antimicrobial activities through in vitro assays. Fermented avocado powder hod improved functional properties with high antioxidants in comparison to control. Sugar apple peel extract demonstrated strong antimicrobial activities due to the high content of catechins derivatives. Our study highlighted, that valuable and novel strategies may exploit the intrinsic features of tropical fruits providing a benefit important for human diet.
