Culture matters: A systematic review of antioxidant potential of tree legumes in the semiarid region of Brazil and local processing techniques as a driver of bioaccessibility

Abstract

Ethnobotanical studies report that human populations from the Brazilian Caatinga biome use tree legumes (Fabaceae) with medicinal and food purposes. Our study provides a systematic review of the available published information concerning the antioxidant potential of Hymenaea courbaril L. (jatobá), Libidibia ferrea (Mart. Ex Tul.) L.P.Queiroz (jucá), and Dioclea grandiflora Mart. Ex Benth. (mucunã). Furthermore, in this paper, we infer the possible effects of local processing techniques applied to these plants on their antioxidant potential. In order to achieve these goals, we reviewed 52 articles, including studies from ethnobiology (n = 17), chemistry (n = 32), and food studies testing antioxidant activity (n = 17), excluding 14 repetitions. We found that these legume species can inhibit the formation of free radicals and this potential action varies among different parts of the plant. Probably, the presence of phenolic compounds such as phenolic acids and flavonoids, which are not uniformly distributed in the plants, explain their antioxidant activity. Local processing techniques (i.e., roasting, milling) affect the bioaccessibility of antioxidant components of tree legumes, inducing both positive and negative effects. However, studies about the antioxidant potential did not consider local processing techniques in their analyses. Our study highlights that culture is a fundamental driver of nutritional and pharmacological outcomes related to edible resources since it determines which parts of the plant people consume and how they prepare them. Hence, ignoring cultural variables in the analysis of antioxidant activity will produce inaccurate or wrong scientific conclusions.

Insight into the antioxidant activities of ten Fabaceae plant species that are medicinally used by the Aucan Tribal Peoples from the Republic of Suriname (South America)

“…Summarizing, the results from the current study are in line with literature data on the high antioxidant activity and total phenolic, total flavonoid, and selenium content of Fabaceae species [ 20 – 23 ] and support the traditional medical uses of I. stipularis bark, C. guyanensis bark, A. jupunba twigs, and M. urens fruit preparations by the Surinamese Aucans when considering the potential health benefits associated with these properties of the plants. Notably, the Aucan uses of these preparations against bacterial infections and asthma ( Table 1 ) is in accordance with literature data on their pharmacological activities [ 47 , 51 , 52 , 55 , 56 , 58 ].…”

“…The Fabaceae has the reputation of a plant family with a relatively high antioxidant activity and a relatively high total phenolic, total flavonoid, and selenium content [20][21][22][23]. In this study, we sought indications as to whether the broad traditional medicinal use of ten species of Fabaceae by the Surinamese Aucans may be associated with these properties.…”

“…The widespread use of Fabaceae species as staple foods and traditional medicines has particularly been attributed to their high content of phenolic compounds with powerful antioxidant properties [20][21][22][23]. For example, this has been reported for nine Fabaceae species growing in Serbia and Montenegro [24], twenty-nine mature raw varieties of grain legume seeds produced in Europe [25], a number of under-utilized food legumes consumed in China [26], and the edible bean extracts of fifty Fabaceae populations grown in Thailand [27].…”