Colombia exhibits huge biodiversity, being one of the ten most megadiverse countries worldwide. It has approximately twelve hours of daylight all the year, high soil and climate diversity, Amazonian rainforest access, as well as two maritime access (Caribbean and Pacific oceans) that bring it closer to European and USA markets, among other privileges. Colombia has the capacity to become a world potency in the field of tropical fruit sources. These products have a high acceptance among consumers due to they are the nutrient and biofunctional compound sources and exhibit excellent sensory properties. However, there are several inconveniences to overcome, such as susceptibility to handling during pre-harvesting (nutritional deficit, weather influence, pests, and diseases effect) and post-harvesting (senescence, packaging, browning). Thus, this program attempted to achieve an integral use of some selected fruit species (avocado, goldenberry, lulo, tamarillo, purple passion fruit, and banana passion fruit, among others) since the improvement of their harvesting conditions until the development of added-value products, by using metabolomic and proteomic data analysis. The activities of this program are on the frame of the “biorefinery” concept with the help of an interdisciplinary work team with wide expertise and excellent academic and investigative performance. One of the long-term objectives of this program was to have innovative tools for the Colombian agri-industry that allow competing in international markets. The added-value products belong to the food, phytotherapeutics, cleanliness, and cosmetic industries that are needed to develop in Colombia. The study cases of avocado and Solanaceae fruits were presented. These fruits are common in the north part of South America.

RIFRUTBIO, an interdisciplinary network to make bioprospection on tropical fruits

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.