Antioxidant Potential of Peels and Fleshes of Peaches from Different Cultivars

Abstract

Increasing recent interest in nutraceuticals and functional foods has led researchers to investigate the antioxidant potential of several fruits. This article evaluates the antioxidant potential and reactivity based on luminol-enhanced chemiluminescence capacity of peach extracts (peels and fleshes) and the contribution of a major compound present in these extracts to antioxidant potential and reactivity. The results obtained showed that the extracts of peels and fleshes of Maciel, Leonense, and Eldorado peach cultivars present free radical scavenging activity in all concentrations tested, with a concentration-dependent action. The immediate inhibition of chemiluminescence and the duration of this inhibition were significantly higher with the extracts than with the major compound (chlorogenic acid) alone, and it can be due to a synergistic or additive effect of other antioxidants present in the extracts. The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) values for peach extract and chlorogenic acid were 1.19 microg/mL and 8.43 microg/mL, respectively, when total radical-trapping antioxidant potential was evaluated, whereas IC(50) values of 0.41 microg/mL and 1.89 microg/mL was found when total antioxidant reactivity was evaluated in peach extract and chlorogenic acid, respectively. Chlorogenic acid presented a good contribution to antioxidant reactivity and potential, but the fruit extracts provide better antioxidant action. Peach could be of great interest as an important antioxidant source including chlorogenic acid, and it may provide health-promoting advantages to consumers by intake of this fruit or by utilization of its peels as antioxidant sources in industry.

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