Chemical profile of pineapple cv. Vitória in different maturation stages using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.

Background: Pineapple is the fruit of Ananas comosus var. comosus plant, being cultivated in tropical areas and has high energy content and nutritional value. Herein, 30 samples of pineapple cv. Vitória were analyzed as a function of the maturation stage (0-5) and their physico-chemical parameters monitored. In addition, negative-ion mode electrospray ionization mass spectrometry [ESI(-)FT-ICR MS] was used to identify and semi-quantify primary and secondary metabolites present in the crude and phenolic extracts of pineapple, respectively.

Results: Physico-chemical tests show an increase in the total soluble solids (TSS) values and in the TSS/total titratable acidity ratio as a function of the maturity stage, where a maximum value was observed in stage 3 (¾ of the fruit is yellow, which corresponds to the color of the fruit peel). ESI(-)FT-ICR MS analysis for crude extracts showed the presence mainly of sugars as primary metabolites present in deprotonated molecule form ([M - H] and [2 M - H] ions) whereas, for phenolic fractions, 11 compounds were detected, being the most abundant in the third stage of maturation. This behavior was confirmed by quantitative analysis of total polyphenols.

Conclusion: ESI-FT-ICR MS was efficient in identifying primary (carbohydrates and organic acids) and secondary metabolites (13 phenolic compounds) presents in the crude and phenolic extract of the samples, respectively. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.