Abstract
Euterpe oleracea (açaí) is a palm tree well known for the high antioxidant activity of its berries used as dietary supplements. Little is known about the biological activity and the composition of its vegetative organs. The objective of this study was to investigate the antioxidant activity of root and leaflet extracts of Euterpe oleracea (E. oleracea) and characterize their phytochemicals. E. oleracea roots and leaflets extracts were screened in different chemical antioxidant assays (DPPH—2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, FRAP—ferric feducing antioxidant power, and ORAC—oxygen radical absorbance capacity), in a DNA nicking assay and in a cellular antioxidant activity assay. Their polyphenolic profiles were determined by UV and LC-MS/MS. E. oleracea leaflets had higher antioxidant activity than E. oleracea berries, and leaflets of Oenocarpus bacaba and Oenocarpus bataua, as well as similar antioxidant activity to green tea. E. oleracea leaflet extracts were more complex than root extracts, with fourteen compounds, including caffeoylquinic acids and C-glycosyl derivatives of apigenin and luteolin. In the roots, six caffeoylquinic and caffeoylshikimic acids were identified. Qualitative compositions of E. oleracea, Oenocarpus bacaba and Oenocarpus bataua leaflets were quite similar, whereas the quantitative compositions were quite different. These results provide new prospects for the valorization of roots and leaflets of E. oleracea in the pharmaceutical, food or cosmetic industry, as they are currently by-products of the açaí industry.
Highlights
Euterpe oleracea (E. oleracea), known as açaí worldwide and wassaye in French Guiana, is a palm tree native from the Amazonian rainforest, which gives purple berries with high potential currently used as dietary food supplements or in cosmetics thanks to their high antioxidant activity
We investigated the antioxidant activity of root and leaflet crude extracts of E. oleracea using different chemical antioxidant assays (DPPH—2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, FRAP—ferric reducing antioxidant power, and ORAC—oxygen radical absorbance capacity), a DNA nicking assay and a cellular antioxidant activity assay, while LC-MS/MS was performed to elucidate the structures of the bioactive compounds
Root and leaflet extracts from E. oleracea were active across the board in different chemical antioxidant assays (DPPH, FRAP, ORAC, DNA nicking) and biological assay (CAA)
Summary
Euterpe oleracea (E. oleracea), known as açaí worldwide and wassaye in French Guiana, is a palm tree native from the Amazonian rainforest, which gives purple berries with high potential currently used as dietary food supplements or in cosmetics thanks to their high antioxidant activity. The vegetative organs of E. oleracea are considered as waste from the açaí palm heart industry and could be potential sources of phytochemicals with cosmetic, pharmaceutical or nutritional applications. Antioxidant activity [10] and anti-nociceptive activity have been demonstrated [11], showing that this waste could find applications in the food or pharmaceutical industries. A previous study showed that roots and leaflets of two other Amazonian palm trees (Oenocarpus bacaba and Oenocarpus bataua) had high antioxidant activity, underlining both Oenocarpus vegetative organs as good sources of antioxidant compounds [12]. We investigated the antioxidant activity of root and leaflet crude extracts of E. oleracea using different chemical antioxidant assays (DPPH—2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, FRAP—ferric reducing antioxidant power, and ORAC—oxygen radical absorbance capacity), a DNA nicking assay and a cellular antioxidant activity assay, while LC-MS/MS was performed to elucidate the structures of the bioactive compounds
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