Nutritional composition and antioxidant properties of the sim fruit (Rhodomyrtus tomentosa).

Thi Ngoc Ha Lai, Christelle André, Hervé Rogez, Eric Mignolet, Thi Bich Thuy Nguyen, Yvan Larondelle

Index: Food Chem. 168 , 410-6, (2014)

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Abstract

In this study, detailed chemical properties of sim (Rhodomyrtus tomentosa (Ait.) Hassk.) fruit including nutritional composition, phenolic content and antioxidant capacity were determined for the first time. A 150g serving of sim fruit contained high levels of dietary fibre (69.94-87.43% of Recommended Daily Intake (RDI)), α-tocopherol (38.90-51.87% RDI), manganese (>100% RDI), and copper (44.44% RDI) but low levels of protein (2.63% RDI), lipid (1.59-3.5% RDI), and sugars (5.65% RDI). The predominant fatty acid in the sim fruit sample was linoleic acid (75.36% of total fatty acids). Interestingly, total phenolics (49.21±0.35mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g dry weight (DW)) were particularly high and resulted in a high antioxidant capacity (431.17±14.56μmol Trolox equivalent (TE)/g DW). These results, together with our recent discovery of high amount of piceatannol, a stilbene with potent biological activities, highlight the potential of sim, an under-utilised plant species from South-East Asia, as a new source of health-promoting compounds including dietary fibres, essential fatty acids, and phenolic compounds. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.