Assessment of antioxidant and antibacterial potential of borojo fruit (Borojoa patinoi Cuatrecasas) from the rainforests of South America

Borojo (Borojoa patinoi) is an endemic fruit of the rainforests of Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Panama that is listed for approval as novel food in the European Union. In this work the antioxidant activity (measured with DPPH, FIC and FRAP), the organic acid and sugar contents, the volatile profile and the antibacterial properties against 26 pathogenic and non-pathogenic strains were studied. Total phenol contents (TPC) ranged from 36.41 to 53.6 mg GAE/100 g fw while total flavonoids (TFC) from 88.45 to 49.83 mg RE/100 g fw. The extract showed also good antioxidant activity highly correlated to TPC and TFC. Among 21 volatile compounds detected by SPME-GC-MS, 2-nonanol represented the main component. The antimicrobial activity was in a decreasing order: Salmonella enteritidis > Salmonella typhimurium > Listeria monocytogenes > Staphylococcus aureus > Brochotrix thermosphacta. The biological properties of Borojo-fruit suggested that it is a promising new antioxidant and antibacterial agent.