Profiling of Bioactive Compounds and Mineral Composition of Purple and Yellow Passion Fruit from Northeastern India: Nutritional Implications for Tribal Communities.

Abstract

Bioactive compounds are plant metabolites with antioxidant and therapeutic properties. This study compares the biochemical and mineral profiles of purple and yellow passion fruit genotypes from North-eastern India. The purple variety exhibited higher total phenolic content (646.04 mg GAE/100 g), carotenoids (0.98 mg/100 g), anthocyanins (213.85 mg/100 g), and antioxidant activity (66.50%) than the yellow genotype (195.54 mg GAE/100 g, 0.79 mg/100 g, 30.55 mg/100 g, and 59.03%, respectively). Conversely, yellow passion fruit had higher vitamin C (326.61 mg/100 g) and flavonoid content (143.55 mg/100 g) than purple (130.64 mg/100 g and 120.60 mg/100 g, respectively). LC-MS/MS profiling identified benzoic acid as the dominant organic acid in both, with luteolin (54.67 µg/g) being higher in purple and naringenin (39.03 µg/g) in yellow fruit. Amino acid profiling revealed serine (5.31 mg/g) as dominant in purple and glutamic acid (6.83 mg/g) in yellow. Mineral analysis indicated considerably higher zinc in yellow (71.25 ppm) as compared to purple (35.04 ppm). These results highlight genotype-specific nutritional richness, supporting the potential of passion fruit for functional food and nutraceutical applications.