The powerful in vitro bioactivity of Euterpe oleracea Mart. seeds and related phenolic compounds


Autoria(s): Barros, Lillian; Calhelha, Ricardo C.; Queiroz, Maria João R. P.; Santos-Buelga, Celestino; Santos, E.A.; Regis, W.C.B.; Ferreira, Isabel C.F.R. Ferreira
Data(s)

01/07/2015

Resumo

The Euterpe oleracea Mart. (açaí) is a plant from the Amazon region, classified as "super fruit" because of its various functional properties. However, limited investigation has been performed on açaí by-products, such as seeds. Therefore, the aim of this work was to characterized the phenolic compounds of the aqueous extract of açaí seeds and further evaluate its bioactivity (antioxidant and cytotoxic activities. Only proanthocyanidins were detected, being a B-type (epi)catechin tetramer the most abundant; however, procyanidin trimmers were the most predominant form. Açaí seeds extract revealed a high antioxidant (EC50 ranging from 3.6 to 19.4 μg/mL) and cytotoxic activity, being more effective in the cervical carcinoma cell line (HeLa; GI50 = 18 μg/mL); it did not show toxicity for non-tumor cells. Açaí seeds are considered a waste and could have an added economic benefit, through the extraction of natural antioxidants, particularly proanthocyanidins, that could find applications in food and pharmaceutical industries.

The authors are grateful to Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support to the research centre CIMO (strategic project PEst OE/AGR/UI0690/2011) and L. Barros researcher contract under “Programa Compromisso com Ciência - 2008”. The authors are also grateful to Jamil S. Oliveira by the initial discussions on the preparation of samples.

Identificador

Barros, L., Calhelha, R. C., Queiroz, M. J. R. P., Santos-Buelga, C., Santos, E. A., Regis, W. C. B., & Ferreira, I. C. F. R. (2015). The powerful in vitro bioactivity of Euterpe oleracea Mart. seeds and related phenolic compounds. Industrial Crops and Products, 76, 318-322. doi: 10.1016/j.indcrop.2015.05.086

0926-6690

http://hdl.handle.net/1822/39809

10.1016/j.indcrop.2015.05.086

Idioma(s)

eng

Publicador

Elsevier

Relação

Pest OE/AGR/UI0690/2011

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2015.05.086

Direitos

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Palavras-Chave #Euterpe oleracea #Phenolic characterization #Antioxidant properties #Antitumor activity
Tipo

info:eu-repo/semantics/article