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The polyculture systems guarantees food to small farmers, would ensure sustainable agriculture, high productivity per unit area and lessen the natural risks of agriculture. Within this context the objective of this study was to evaluate the production cost and profitability of an organic polyculture system comprising passion fruit, maize, pineapple and cassava in association with the cover crops. This research was carried out at the Seridó Ecological Farm, in the Municipality of Rio Branco, Acre State, from 2009 to 2011, in the completely randomized block design in a split plot arrangement with three repetitions and comprised plots containing passion fruit supported by espaliers located 3 m or 4 m apart. Plots were divided into subplots containing the cover crops jack-bean, crotalaria, tropical kudzu, peanut forage or spontaneous plants (treatments), and maize. The pineapple and cassava were planted between the espaliers. The effects of different cover crops were not so evident in plots with 3 m-spaced espaliers (P < 0.05) which increased productivity and production cost, providing a lower cost benefit ratio. The organic polyculture of passion fruit with pineapple, maize and cass in plots with 4 m-spaced espaliers, with the soil covered by jack bean increased total and net revenue, cost benefit ratio and economic feasibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND The peel of yellow passion fruit is as an agro-industrial waste of great environmental impact, representing more than 50% of the total weight of the fruit. For this reason, and also considering its importance as a source of functional components such as pectin, this organic waste is increasingly attracting the attention of researchers. The aim of this study was to investigate the physico-chemical composition and physical properties of this material, which may be of interest to the food industry. RESULTS We obtained two samples of passion fruit peel flour applying different processes: flour without treatment ( FWOT) and flour with treatment by maceration ( FWT). It was found that the flour samples contain, respectively, 372.4 g kg−1 and 246.7 kg−1 of soluble fiber and, according to the FTIR analysis, this material corresponds to high and low methoxyl pectins, respectively. CONCLUSION The flour obtained by maceration ( FWT) offers greater benefits for industrial use, with 60% fewer tannins and greater thermal stability. In addition, this sample does not reabsorb moisture as easily, although FWOT also shows potential for use in dietary products. Considering the pseudoplastic properties of the flours, the application of both samples could be expanded to many industrial sectors. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]