Plinia peruviana
Species of plant in the family Myrtaceae
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Plinia peruviana, commonly known as jabuticaba cabinho (small stemmed jabuticaba) in Brazil, is a species of plant in the family Myrtaceae. It is endemic to central, South America.
| Plinia peruviana | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Myrtales |
| Family: | Myrtaceae |
| Genus: | Plinia |
| Species: | P. peruviana |
| Binomial name | |
| Plinia peruviana (Poir.) Govaerts | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Description
Plinia peruviana is a tree that grows to between 4 and 14 metres tall, and is usually found in mixed araucaria forests, on alluvial plains and in open forest.[2] It produces edible fruit, between 18 and 25 mm in diameter, which is dark-purple in colour.[3] Unlike other Jabuticabas the fruits of Plinia peruviana are connected to the tree by long stems, resembling cherries.[4]
Uses
Fruits can be eaten fresh or made into jelly, juice, wine or liqueur.[5] Research has shown that the fruit has potential uses as a dye, flavoring or antioxidant.[6]
Studies have found that the jaboticaba fruit can serve as a wound healing agent on L929 fibroblasts cell line, likely due to its antioxidant activity.[7] Jaboticaba has been used as a traditional natural medicine to treat skin irritations, diarrhea, etc. [citation needed]
It has also been found that extracts of the jaboticaba's peel can enrich cows milk with phenolic compounds. Phenolic compounds contain many antioxidants and are a natural part of the human diet.[8] Enrichment of human consumed cow milk may aid in delivering antioxidants to the general population.[citation needed]
Extract from the fruit peel has been shown to be antifungal[9] and protect against copper toxicity.[10]
