Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant Properties with Involved Mechanisms of Eugenia involucrata DC Fruits

Abstract

In this study, the phytochemical profile and the antioxidative properties of Eugenia involucrata fruits were evaluated. Spectrophotometric assays indicated that these berries are a rich source of polyphenols with very high radical-scavenging and metal-reducing activities. High-performance liquid chromatography–Orbitrap analysis was able to carry out the annotation of 36 different compounds, mainly belonging to the flavonol, flavan-3-ol, and anthocyanin families. Antioxidant activity of the fruit extract was evaluated in a cell-based lipid peroxidation model. Obtained data showed that the extract, at very low concentration, was able to prevent oxidative damage in HepG2 cells exposed to oxidative stimuli. Moreover, the evaluation of the gene expression of the most important antioxidant enzymes suggested that the observed antioxidant protection in cells also involves an improvement in enzymatic antioxidant defenses. Finally, the collected data show that E. involucrata fruits are a good source of natural antioxidant molecules and provide evidence of their potential application in the nutraceutical field.

Recovery of anthocyanins from Eugenia spp. fruit peels: a comparison between heat- and ultrasound-assisted extraction

“…14,15 The E. involucrata fruits also present different bioactive molecules, such as gallic acid, catechin, proanthocyanidins, myricetin, quercetin, and kaempferol derivatives. 38,39…”

“…14,15 The E. involucrata fruits also present different bioactive molecules, such as gallic acid, catechin, proanthocyanidins, myricetin, quercetin, and kaempferol derivatives. 38,39 Regarding the cytotoxic potential of the samples, only E. brasiliensis fruit peel extracts were able to inhibit the growth of tumour cells at the tested concentrations (Table 6). In addition, there were no signicant differences (p > 0.05) between the anthocyanin-rich extracts obtained by HAE and UAE in the tested cell lines.…”

Emerging berries from the Brazilian Amazon and Atlantic Forest biomes: new sources of bioactive compounds with potential health benefits

“…Cereja-do-Rio-Grande peel plus pulp has a total anthocyanin content of 75 mg of C3G equivalent per 100 g (fresh weight). 127 According to Girardelo et al , 23 C3G presents the highest relative abundance in the anthocyanins group (79.08%), followed by delphinidin- O -hexoside (9.42%) and a cyanidin derivative (8.57%). Cyanidin-3- O -cinnamyl-rhamnoside, cyanidin-3- O -galactoside, cyanidin-3- O -pentoside, C3R, cyanidin aglycone, delphinidin-3- O -galactoside, delphinidin aglycone, and pelargonidin-3- O -glucoside have also been identified in cereja-do-Rio-Grande.…”

“…Nonetheless, in a consistent way, the fruit's pulp plus peel has shown to present TPC values up to 1.4 g of GAE per 100 g (dry weight). 9,127…”

“…Cyanidin-3- O -cinnamyl-rhamnoside, cyanidin-3- O -galactoside, cyanidin-3- O -pentoside, C3R, cyanidin aglycone, delphinidin-3- O -galactoside, delphinidin aglycone, and pelargonidin-3- O -glucoside have also been identified in cereja-do-Rio-Grande. 23,127 A robust quantification of anthocyanins has only been reported for the whole fruit (including seeds). Considering the whole fruit, D3G was found in higher concentrations (3.84–7.52 mg g −1 ) than C3G (1.23–2.32 mg g −1 ) and pelargonidin glucoside (0.04–0.55 mg g −1 ).…”