Nutritional and Volatile Fingerprint Characteristics of an Amazon Fruit: Ficus subapiculata.

Ficus subapiculata is distributed throughout the Amazon region, although its potential for commercial fruit production has not yet been explored. We describe here the chemical and nutritional composition of F. subapiculata fruits and some aspects of the postharvest maturation.

Nutritional and chemical composition of Alpinia zerumbet leaves, a traditional functional food.

Alpinia zerumbet, a species of the Zingiberaceae family, is a common plant in tropical and subtropical areas used in traditional medicine to treat various diseases and also included as food in the traditional Okinawan diet (Japan). The leaves and rhizomes of this plant are used as spice and flavoring in foods such as rice, meats, and pasta. Studies of the chemical and nutritional characteristics of fresh leaves and of leaves submitted to thermal treatments such as boiling and steaming are lacking.