Renan Campos Chisté

In vitro scavenging capacity of annatto seed extracts against reactive oxygen and nitrogen species.

Bixa orellana L. (annatto), from Bixaceae family, is a native plant of tropical America, which accumulates several carotenoids (including bixin and norbixin), terpenoids, tocotrienols and flavonoids with potential antioxidant activity. In the present study, the in vitro scavenging capacity of annatto seed extracts against reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) was evaluated and compared to the bixin standard. Annatto extracts were obtained using solvents with different polarities and their phenolic compounds and bixin levels were determined by high performance liquid chromatography coupled to diode array detector. All annatto extracts were able to scavenge all the reactive species tested at the low μg/mL range, with the exception of superoxide radical. The ethanol:ethyl acetate and ethyl acetate extracts of annatto seeds, which presented the highest levels of hypolaetin and bixin, respectively, were the extracts with the highest antioxidant capacity, although bixin standard presented the lowest IC(50) values.

Identification and quantification, by HPLC-DAD-MS/MS, of carotenoids and phenolic compounds from the Amazonian fruit Caryocar villosum.

The Amazonian region from Brazil has a wide variety of native and wild noncommercially cultivated fruits. This article reports for the first time the composition of carotenoids and phenolic compounds from Caryocar villosum fruit pulp, and, in addition, its proximate composition and antioxidant capacity (ORAC assay) were determined. According to the nutritional composition, water (52%) and lipids (25%) were the major components found in the pulp, and the total energetic value was 291 kcal/100 g. The major phenolic compounds identified by HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS/MS were gallic acid (182.4 μg/g pulp), followed by ellagic acid rhamnoside (107 μg/g pulp) and ellagic acid (104 μg/g pulp). The main carotenoids identified by HPLC-DAD-APCI-MS/MS were all-trans-antheraxanthin (3.4 μg/g pulp), all-trans-zeaxanthin (2.9 μg/g pulp), and a lutein-like carotenoid (2.8 μg/g pulp). The antioxidant capacity of the pulp (3.7 mMol Trolox/100 g pulp) indicates that it can be considered a good peroxyl radical scavenger.

Development of a novel micro-assay for evaluation of peroxyl radical scavenger capacity: Application to carotenoids and structure–activity relationship

A micro-assay was developed and validated, using a microplate reader in 96-well format, C(11)-BODIPY(581/591) as fluorescent probe and AIBN as ROO() generator. The structure-activity relationship was established for 15 carotenoid standards, indicating that the opening of the β-ionone ring and the increase of chromophore extension in the carotenoid structure were the major factors leading to the increase of ROO() scavenging capacity. The values for ROO() scavenging capacity were calculated using α-tocopherol as reference compound. Among the studied carotenoids, all-trans-lycopene was the most efficient ROO() scavenger (8.67±0.74) followed by all-trans-astaxanthin (6.50±0.62). All the carotenoids showed to be more effective ROO() scavengers than α-tocopherol and some hydrophilic compounds. Finally, the method was successfully applied to assay the ROO() scavenging capacity of carotenoid extracts from two Amazonian fruits, peach palm (7.83±0.21) and mamey (6.90±0.44).

The potential of extracts of Caryocar villosum pulp to scavenge reactive oxygen and nitrogen species

Caryocar villosum (piquiá) is a native fruit from the Amazonian region, considered to be an interesting source of bioactive compounds. In this paper, five extracts of C. villosum pulp were obtained, using solvents with different polarities and their in vitro scavenging capacity against reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) was determined. Additionally, the phenolic compounds and carotenoids in each extract were identified and quantified by a high performance liquid chromatography coupled to diode array and mass spectrometer detectors (HPLC-DAD-MS/MS). The ethanol/water and water extracts, which presented the highest phenolic contents (5163 and 1745μg/g extract, respectively), with ellagic acid as the major phenolic compound, proved to have the highest ROS and RNS scavenging potential. Nevertheless, in general, ellagic acid was less effective in scavenging ROS (IC(50) from 1.7 to 108μg/ml) and RNS (IC(50) from 0.05 to 0.59μg/ml), when compared to gallic acid (IC(50) from 0.4 to 226μg/ml for ROS and IC(50) from 0.04 to 0.12μg/ml for RNS). The results obtained in the present study clearly demonstrated that the in vitro antioxidant efficiency of C. villosum extracts was closely related to their contents of phenolic compounds.

Simultaneous extraction and analysis by high performance liquid chromatography coupled to diode array and mass spectrometric detectors of bixin and phenolic compounds from annatto seeds

This study was designed to identify and quantify the carotenoids and phenolic compounds from annatto seeds using high performance liquid chromatography coupled to diode array and mass spectrometer detectors (HPLC-DAD-MS/MS). Furthermore, using response surface methodology, an optimized procedure for simultaneous extraction of these compounds was established. In addition to bixin, known to be the main carotenoid in annatto seeds, hypolaetin and a caffeoyl acid derivative were identified as the main phenolic compounds. The optimized procedure involved 15 extractions using acetone:methanol:water (50:40:10, v/v/v) as solvent, a solid-liquid ratio of 1:9 (m/v) and an extraction time of 5 min. Validation data indicated that the HPLC method proposed provided good linearity, sensitivity, procedure accuracy, system precision and suggested its suitability for the simultaneous analysis of phenolic compounds and carotenoids in annatto seeds.

Correlation, by multivariate statistical analysis, between the scavenging capacity against reactive oxygen species and the bioactive compounds from frozen fruit pulps

The contents of total phenolic compounds (TPC), total flavonoids (TF), and ascorbic acid (AA) of 18 frozen fruit pulps and their scavenging capacities against peroxyl radical (ROO•), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and hydroxyl radical (•OH) were determined. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed that TPC (total phenolic compounds) and AA (ascorbic acid) presented positive correlation with the scavenging capacity against ROO•, and TF (total flavonoids) showed positive correlation with the scavenging capacity against •OH and ROO• However, the scavenging capacity against H2O2 presented low correlation with TF (total flavonoids), TPC (total phenolic compounds), and AA (ascorbic acid). The Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) allowed the classification of the fruit pulps into three groups: one group was formed by the acai pulp with high TF, total flavonoids, content (134.02 mg CE/100 g pulp) and the highest scavenging capacity against ROO•, •OH and H2O2; the second group was formed by the acerola pulp with high TPC, total phenolic compounds, (658.40 mg GAE/100 g pulp) and AA , ascorbic acid, (506.27 mg/100 g pulp) contents; and the third group was formed by pineapple, cacao, caja, cashew-apple, coconut, cupuacu, guava, orange, lemon, mango, passion fruit, watermelon, pitanga, tamarind, tangerine, and umbu pulps, which could not be separated considering only the contents of bioactive compounds and the scavenging properties.

Bioactive amines and phenolic compounds in cocoa beans are affected by fermentation

Cocoa is the target of increased scientific research as it is one of the richest source of bioactive compounds. The formation of bioactive amines and their changes in cocoa beans during seven days of traditional fermentation was investigated for the first time. In addition, total phenolic compounds, anthocyanins contents and the scavenging capacity against ABTS radical were determined to monitor the fermentation process. Only two biogenic amines (tryptamine and tyramine) and two polyamines (spermidine and spermine) were detected in cocoa beans during fermentation. Fermentation was characterized by three stages: i) high levels of tryptamine, phenolics, and scavenging capacity; ii) high contents of spermine, total biogenic amines and total polyamines; and iii) the highest spermidine levels and total acidity, but the lowest total phenolic compounds and anthocyanins contents. The scavenging capacity of cocoa beans during fermentation correlated with total phenolic compounds and anthocyanins contents.

DETERMINAÇÃO DE CIANETO TOTAL NAS FARINHAS DE MANDIOCA DO GRUPO SECA E D’ÁGUA COMERCIALIZADAS NA CIDADE DE BELÉM-PA

O objetivo desse trabalho foi determinar a concentracao de cianeto total presente nas farinhas de mandioca do grupo seca e d’agua comercializadas na cidade de Belem, PA, sabendo que os efeitos toxicos causados pela liberacao de cianeto podem ser agudos ou cronicos. Apos realizacao das analises verificou-se que as farinhas de mandioca apresentaram baixa concentracao de cianeto total, variando de 7,68 a 20,57 mg HCN/Kg nas farinhas do grupo seca e de 3,57 a 12,36mg HCN/Kg na farinha do grupo d’agua.

Quantificação de cianeto total nas etapas de processamento das farinhas de mandioca dos grupos seca e d'água

The aim of this work was to quantify the total cyanide concentration during the production stages of cassava flour from dry and water groups. In relation to dry flour, the total cyanide concentration in the cassava root reduced from 160±11.8 mg HCN/kg to 149±12.3 mg HCN/kg after grinding, 68±2.5mg HCN/kg after pressing and 5±0.2 mg HCN/kg was obtained in the final product after the roasting process. For the water flour production, the cassava root showed 321±21.6 mg HCN/kg total cyanide content, and during the fermentation process, the total cyanide content for the first 24-hour fermentation was from 297±2.7 mg HCN/kg reaching 64±2.3 mg HCN/kg after resting in a pool for 96 hours. After grinding and pressing the fermented roots, the values lowered to 50±0.6 and 36±0.4 mg HCN/kg, respectively. A concentration of 9±0.1 mg HCN/kg was obtained in the final product, evidencing the detoxification process efficiency in both processings.

Características físicas e físico-química da casca de mangostão em três períodos da safra

In this work, it was evaluated the physical characteristics of fruit and physiochemical of the mangosteen peel, harvested in different periods (beginning, middle and end). The physical characteristics of fruits range significantly (p<0.05) from the beginning to the end, and it was observed that the fruits average weight, ranged from 91.33 to 50.82 g and the peel consists of an average from 72.12 to 76.86% of the total fruit weight. The physiochemical characterization shows that the peel possesses high moisture content (64.5 to 66%), total fibers (24.9 to 29.1%), high water activity (0.96 - 0.98), low energy value (24.8 to 34.7 Kcal/ 100g) and expressive content of total anthocyanins (25.9 to 63.9 mg/100g), mainly in the intermediate harvest period.