Abstract
Elderberry (Sambucus nigra L.) consumption has been growing in the last years, generating a large number of stalks (~10% of the berries bunch) that are still under-valorized. This study focused on the evaluation of elderberry stalks as a source of high-value phytochemicals. In this vein, the essential mineral content and lipophilic composition were analyzed for the first time. In addition, the polar fraction was evaluated regarding its total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity by both 2,2-azinobis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) and 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl hydrate (DPPH) assays. The lipophilic fraction was mainly composed of triterpenic acids (2902.20 mg kg−1 of dry weight (dw)), fatty acids (711.73 mg kg−1 dw) and sterols (288.56 mg kg−1 dw). Minor amounts of long-chain aliphatic alcohols and other components were also detected. Ursolic acid (2265.83 mg kg−1 dw), hexadecanoic acid (219.85 mg kg−1 dw) and β-sitosterol (202.74 mg kg−1 dw) were the major lipophilic components verified. The results of this study also indicated that elderberry stalks might be used as a natural source of essential minerals, particularly calcium, iron and potassium, which are known to play important roles in various body functions. The analysis of the polar fraction also showed that elderberry stalks present TPC as high as elderberry themselves as well as considerable antioxidant activity (1.04 and 0.37 mmol TE g−1 of extract, against respectively ABTS and DPPH radicals). These results highlight the potential of elderberry stalks as a natural source of high-value phytochemicals that may be explored in several fields.
Highlights
The production and consumption of fruits, mainly berries, grapes, apples and citrus, has been increasing in the last years, generating a rising number of byproducts
The total phenolic content (TPC) of elderberry stalks polar fraction was 0.83 g ± 0.21 gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/100 g fw, or, in a dry weight basis, 1.7 ± 0.42 g GAE 100 g−1 dw. This content is in the range of that already obtained for elderberry stalks (0.71 GAE 100 g−1 fw) [34] and is within the values known for elderberries (0.36–1.95 g GAE 100 g−1 fw) [60,61,62]
This study shows that elderberries stalks, usually known as lignocellulosic biomass, may be considered as a natural source of bioactive compounds, notably composed of phenolic, lipophilic compounds and essential minerals that are actively looked for by industry investing in functional foods and health-promoting products
Summary
The production and consumption of fruits, mainly berries, grapes, apples and citrus, has been increasing in the last years, generating a rising number of byproducts. A growing trend in using agricultural and agri-industry by-products as a source of bioactive compounds has been observed lately [4,5], with a major interest in apple [6,7,8,9,10], grape [11,12,13], citrus [14], tomato [15,16,17] and olive [18,19] pomaces and in other fruit by-products such as from almond [20], mango [21] or coffee [22] processing, just to name a few. The polar fraction was evaluated regarding its phenolic content and antioxidant activity, and the stalks mineral content was determined to evaluate their possible use as a food additive or dietary complement
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