The seed of the Amazonian fruit Couepia bracteosa exhibits higher scavenging capacity against ROS and RNS than its shell and pulp extracts

Author(s)

Berto, Alessandra ^[1] ; Ribeiro, Alessandra Braga ^[2] ; Sentandreu, Enrique ^[3] ; de Souza, Nilson Evelazio ^[1] ; Mercadante, Adriana Zerlotti ^[3] ; Chiste, Renan Campos ^[2] ; Fernandes, Eduarda ^[2]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Estadual Maringa, Postgrad Program Chem, BR-87020900 Maringa, Parana - Brazil

^[2] Univ Porto, Fac Pharm, Dept Chem Sci, UCIBIO REQUIMTE, P-4050313 Oporto - Portugal

^[3] Univ Estadual Campinas, Fac Food Engn, Dept Food Sci, BR-13083862 Campinas, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: FOOD & FUNCTION; v. 6, n. 9, p. 3081-3090, 2015.
• Web of Science Citations: 4

Abstract

Among the large number of scientifically unstudied fruits from the Amazonia biome, Couepia bracteosa acts as an interesting source of bioactive compounds, such as phenolic compounds and carotenoids, which may be used for protecting human health against oxidative damage. For the first time, the phenolic compounds and carotenoids in extracts obtained from the pulp, shell and seeds of C. bracteosa fruits are reported, as well as their in vitro scavenging capacities against some reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS). The shell extract presented the highest phenolic compound and carotenoid contents (5540 and 328 mu g per g extract, dry basis, respectively), followed by the pulp and seed extracts. The major phenolic compound was acacetin sulphate (one methoxy and two OH groups) (62%) in the shells; however, only seeds presented apigenin sulphate (three OH groups), in which it was the major compound (44%). The high content of apigenin sulphate may explain why the seed extract had the highest scavenging efficiency against all tested ROS/RNS among the studied extracts. Regarding carotenoids, all-trans-neochrome (17%) and all-trans-beta-carotene (16%) were the major carotenoids in the pulp extracts, while all-trans-lutein (44%) was the most prevalent in the shell extracts and all-trans-a-carotene (32%) and all-trans-beta-carotene (29%) were the major ones in the seed extracts. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/07914-8 - FoRC - Food Research Center
• Grantee: Bernadette Dora Gombossy de Melo Franco
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers - RIDC
• FAPESP's process: 14/07934-1 - A metabolomic approach to new sources of natural bioactive compounds and their relationship to in vitro scavenging features for reactive oxygen (ROS) and nitrogen (RNs) species
• Grantee: Enrique Sentandreu Vicente
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral