Nutritional, Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Properties of <i>Cyclanthera pedata</i>, an Andinean Fruit and Products Derived from Them

Abstract

There is an increasing interest in food plant with health-giving effects. The aim of this research was to evaluate the phytochemical and nutraceutical profiles of Cyclanthera pedata fruits, a native fruit of the Andean region used by Incas communities called achojcha. Soluble protein (SP), total sugar (TS), free phenolic compounds (FPC), ascorbic acid (AA), total monomeric anthocyanin (TMA), condensed and hydrolizable tannin (CT, HT) were evaluated by sprectrophotometric methods in fresh fruits with and without heating and in flour obtained from fruits. Multielemental composition by ICP-MS was done. Antioxidant activity (AOA) was determined by ABTS and Linoleic acid--carotene methods. The inhibitory capacity of LOX, a pro-inflammatory enzyme was also analyzed. The achojcha fresh fruits and achojcha flour showed low amount calories. The flour was high in potassium (7400 mg·K/100 g) and low in sodium (77 mg Na/100 g). High levels of FPC (670 mg GAE/100 g) were found together with elevated levels of AA (123 mg AA/ 100 g). The TMA (0.6 mg C3-GE/100 g) as well as HT (3.4 mg PB2E/100 g) were also detected in flour. All preparations obtained with fresh and dried fruits showed AOA with SC 50 values between 1.8 to 14.5 μg GAE/mL. Inhibitory capacity on LOX was also demonstrated (IC 50 values of 40 µg GAE/mL). The fresh fruits and flour showed nutraceutical characteristics that are demanded by functional food and could be used as dietary supplement.

Characterization of an Italian landrace of Cyclanthera pedata (L.) Schrad. of herbal and horticultural interest

“…2c). Values found in this research were higher than the total content of avanone and dihydro avonols measured by Rivas et al (2013) in extracts of the fresh fruit of Caigua, but this could be due to the different e ciency in the extraction processes.…”

“…The total phenols content was determined as described by Rivas et al (2013) using the Folin-Ciocalteau's method with minor modi cations. Brie y, 0.1 mL of ethanol extract were diluted with 6 mL of water in a conical bottom centrifuge tube.…”

“…The total avones and avonols content was determined as described by Rivas et al (2013) using the aluminium chloride method with minor modi cations. Brie y, 0.5 mL of ethanol extract was mixed with an equal volume of aluminium chloride hexahydrate 2% (w/v) in ethanol.…”

“…Tommasi et al 1999;De Tommasi et al 1996). The presence of these compounds could therefore explain the cholesterol-lowering and hypoglycaemic properties that are attributed to this plant(Rivas et al 2013). Caigua is recently nding important applications in the herbal eld, in preparations to lower blood levels of cholesterol and fat(Frigerio et al 2021).…”