Jaboticaba berry: Metabolic benefits, bioactive compounds, and opportunities for commercialization

Abstract

Background

Brazil biodiversity offers opportunities to explore the nutritional and functional properties of native fruits like jaboticaba (Plinia jaboticaba). This fruit is rich in phenolic compounds, dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals and holds promise for food enrichment, product development, and health research.

Scope and approach

This review explores jaboticaba's botanical characteristics, production, nutrient composition, bioactive compounds, and health and commercial potential. It focuses on studies from 2014 to 2024 investigating the metabolic effects of jaboticaba's whole fruit, peel, and peel-and-seed fractions in animals and humans.

Key findings and conclusions

Jaboticaba, particularly its peel, is abundant in anthocyanins (e.g., cyanidin-3-O-glucoside), proanthocyanidins, ellagitannins, and dietary fiber. These bioactive compounds are highly concentrated in the peel, making it the most studied fraction. While the whole fruit shows promise, the peel and peel-and-seed fractions have demonstrated notable health benefits, including improvements in adiposity, glucose metabolism, insulin sensitivity, lipid metabolism, intestinal health, inflammatory markers, antioxidant activity, and weight management. Further research, particularly long-term clinical studies, is needed to fully understand jaboticaba's health-promoting potential and support its incorporation into functional foods and therapeutic applications.