Various investigations have found antioxidant and antihyperglycemic properties in the curuba peel.
The curuba, also known as “tumbo” and “maracuyá banana”, is an exotic fruit that grows in the Andes Mountains with a soft, bittersweet, slightly acidic flavor and a perfumed aroma. On the outside it looks like a banana, on the inside it is similar to passion fruit, since they belong to the same family as passiflora.
Due to its characteristics, it is used for infusions, sorbets, smoothies or salads. In pastry it is ideal for making mousse, ice cream, cakes, jams, ice creams and jellies, while in cocktails it is used to prepare curuba liqueur, made from the maceration of the fruit pulp and sugar.
This exotic fruit provides multiple benefits among which its sedative and tranquilizing properties stand out. It improves digestion, due to its fiber content, and its contributions of vitamins A, B1, B2 and B3 increase skin hydration.
Phenolic compounds of curuba
Previous studies have shown that it is particularly rich in phenolic antioxidants. The presence of phenolic compounds in foods is commonly investigated to determine their supposed protective effects against various chronic diseases, as also highlighted in several experimental studies. Phenolics in fruits and vegetables occur as soluble conjugated and insoluble forms, covalently bound to sugar residues or cell wall structures.
These forms have a different absorption route in the digestive tract, with bound phenolic compounds reaching the colon intact to be completely released and exhibit their bioactivity. Several studies have also demonstrated the significantly higher antioxidant capacity of insoluble bound phenolic compounds with respect to free and soluble conjugated phenolic compounds.
Free and bound phenolic compounds extracted from curuba (Passiflora mollissima) were identified and quantified. Using the analytical technique, 82 compounds were tentatively identified and 80 of them were quantified. Free phenolic compounds represented the most abundant fraction of phenolics. Total phenolic acids (hydroxybenzoic acid plus hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives) were the phenolic group with the highest concentration in both free and bound phenolic fractions. Furthermore, antioxidant capacities measured with three different assays showed that curuba presented a high antioxidant activity, significantly higher than in other fruits.
What diseases does curuba cure?
Curuba peel counteracts fat assimilation better
Studies were carried out in the development of a project on bioprospecting of tropical fruits, the objective of which is to obtain information from biological species, in this case from what is usually discarded, to find functional uses in production processes.
Among foods, fruits and vegetables contain dietary fiber or pectins, responsible for inhibiting the lipase enzyme, thereby interfering, naturally, in the fat absorption process, which is what contributes to clogging the arteries.
In a study by the National University of Colombia, experts in the field took six types of fruit peels, including those of passion fruit, gulupa and curuba, to subject them to a chemical process, in order to extract the best pectin.
The functionality of the pectin of the curuba is installed within a midpoint between some other citrus fruits, because while others presented greater inhibition power, that of the curuba presented better adaptation and handling characteristics. In other words, it combined manipulation and response functionality to encapsulate fat molecules.
In the case of products such as bread, arepas or pasta, a percentage of the flour was replaced by pectin. Twenty days after consumption, reductions in the lipid profile were evident in the blood test used to determine coronary risk.
These data may represent an incentive to promote the use of this fruit in food preparation. In summary, the high phenolic content and the antioxidant and antihyperglycemic capacity of this fruit confirm its potential as a functional fruit.
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