Abstract
Knowledge on foods nutritional composition, in particular vegetables and fruits, plays a significant role in human diet, given that they are important sources of bioactive and antioxidant compounds. Currently, their consumption has increased due to physiological benefits and/or diseases risk reduction. The goal of the present study is to evaluate the chemical-nutritional composition, bioactive components and antioxidant activity of the seed (MS), seedless fruit (MF/S) and whole fruit (MF) of Rosa rubiginosa (Rosa eglanteria L.) from San Luis, Argentina, and their eventual application as functional foods. In MS, the content of proteins, fatty matter and crude fiber is higher than in the other parts analyzed (4.35 ± 0.05, 7.69 ± 0.55 and 11.66 ± 0.28 g/100 g, respectively); and MF/S presents the highest ash content, 7.11 ± 0.06%. It is noted the high linoleic acid content (43.10-37.61%), followed by α-linolenic (32.63-28.64%) and oleic (15.41-16.92%) acid in MS and MF, respectively. The values of total phenols obtained for MF and MF/S (119.11 ± 1.58 and 116.21 ± 2.12 mg/100 g dw of gallic acid) are significantly higher than for MS. Regarding the antioxidant activity measured by DPPH, the inhibition percentage does not present significant differences among the three studied samples 93.37, 93.76 and 93.47%, which are values considered as with high radical scavenging activity. The obtained results are a contribution to the knowledge on the nutritional properties and antioxidant activity of R. rubiginosa fruit and seed, which would allow diversifying their consumption and be considered as an emerging nutritional food.
Highlights
The increasing population in the developing word has driven the demand of foods and other agricultural products up to extraordinary ranks
This study indicates that R. rubiginosa (Rosa eglanteria L.) from this region is a potential contributor of phenols and anthocyanins, which contribute to its antioxidant activity, as well as having an interesting essential fatty acids profile associated to a lower risk of cardiovascular diseases, due to the presence of linoleic and linolenic acid
The high content of unsaturated fatty acids is promising from the nutritional point of view as well as due to its pharmaceutical properties
Summary
The increasing population in the developing word has driven the demand of foods and other agricultural products up to extraordinary ranks. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) (ENT) are the result of the combination of several factors, such as genetic, physiological, behavioral and environmental factors. They mainly affect low and medium income countries, where more than 75% of deaths are due to these diseases [2]. From the nutritional point of view, the main function of the diet is to provide the nutrients required to satisfy the metabolic and functional demands of people. This traditional concept has changed in the recent years, when considering the diet as the first line of defense against these diseases. Resulting in the concept of “functional food”, defined as Corresponding author E-mail address: nlesc@ unsl.edu.ar
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