Abstract
Throughout the world, people’s diet is generally quite restricted regarding the variety of plants used in their daily regime. The Unconventional Food Plant (UFP) Lactuca canadensis L. is an edible species of wild lettuce sparsely described in literature and considered to be native from the eastern and central parts of North America. To valorize this species as potential alternative food, an analysis of its nutritional, chemical, and bioactive properties was performed. The results specify the occurrence of organic acids, mainly quinic acid (127.9 ± 0.6 g/kg dry weight (dw)), polyunsaturated fatty acids (65.3%), among which are linolenic acid (44.4 ± 0.4 %), and tocopherols, mostly α-tocopherol (61.2 ± 0.7 mg/kg dw). Additionally, eight phenolic compounds were also identified, among which luteolin-O-glucuronide was found in larger amounts in both infusion and hydroethanolic extracts (5.46 ± 0.09 and 4.6 ± 0.1 mg/g dw, respectively). Carbohydrates and proteins were the main macronutrients (603 ± 1 and 177.5 ± 0.3 g/kg dw, respectively), followed by ashes (166.5 ± 0.9), indicative of a great amount of minerals. Additionally, good antioxidant and antibacterial activities were detected in the analyzed extracts. In general, our results contribute to extend the range of different, unexploited, and nutritionally balanced plant foods, such as Lactuca canadensis, that can and should be included in the daily diet.
Highlights
Plants have always been present in human’s diet and their use has been standardized and guided by practical needs and natural predilections [1]
Unconventional Food Plants (UFPs) emerged as a prospect to spread the consumption of plants in the diet, which can be applied in the treatment of diseases, as food additives and in the promotion of health, due to the bioactive compounds present in this matrix [3]
The amount noticed can be compared with other UFP, the superfood Pereskia aculeata Miller, whose protein levels in its dry leaves’ present values between 19.6 and 25.5% (w/w) [18]
Summary
Plants have always been present in human’s diet and their use has been standardized and guided by practical needs and natural predilections [1]. UFPs are species characterized by having plants parts with potential inclusion in the diet but that are not commonly used as such; these can be vegetables, fruits, flowers or herbs that grow spontaneously in nature but, because they are little known, are frequently confused with weeds or “shrubs” [4]. These plants stood out in the fight against hunger, imposing themselves as alternative foods in a balanced diet and that can replace conventional vegetables consumed widely by the general population. They were raised as a new food option among communities where the consumption of vegetables is scarce due to the lack of resources [5]
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