Abstract
Quinoa has a high nutraceutical potential because of the presence of secondary metabolites called saponins, which have industrial and medicinal uses and protect against attacks by pathogens. These compounds are found especially in the seed coat and give the grain a bitter taste; therefore, they must be eliminated before consumption. Despite the potential use in Colombia, there are few studies aimed at quantifying this metabolite. Therefore, the objective of this research was to evaluate two extraction methodologies (physical and chemical) and two methods for quantifying saponins in five quinoa genotypes grown in Colombia. The most efficient extraction method was the physical method. The saponin contents of the five genotypes were variable. The cluster analysis differentiated the genotypes into two groups: low saponin content (<4.49 mg/g seed) and high saponin content (>14.76 mg/g seeds). Blanca de Jericó had the lowest saponin content (<0.40%), and Amarilla de Maranganí had the highest content (>0.18%). Identifying more efficient methodologies for extracting and quantifying saponins will allow a better characterization of the germplasm and selection of genotypes with desirable characteristics for both consumption and industrial use.
Highlights
The native quinoa crop (C. quinoa) is one of the older ones, originating in the Andes region in South America, mainly in Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, and Colombia [1], where the latter has a planted area of 2,600 hectares and a production of 4,781 tons per year [2]
The calibration curves for the quantification with spectrophotometry and the afrosimetric method presented a coefficient of determination of R2 = 0:99, which indicated that there was a significant correlation between the variables, concentration of saponins and absorbance (Figure 1(a)), and the saponin concentration and foam height (Figure 1(b))
The Amarilla de Maranganí, Dorada, and Negra de la Colorada genotypes turned pink (Figures 2(a) and 2(b)), indicating the presence of triterpenic saponins, which take on this color, or red or purple when reacting with the color reagent [16]
Summary
The native quinoa crop (C. quinoa) is one of the older ones, originating in the Andes region in South America, mainly in Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, and Colombia [1], where the latter has a planted area of 2,600 hectares and a production of 4,781 tons per year [2] The rise of this cultivar is due to its nutritional properties, adaptability to different environmental conditions, and genetic variability, qualities that make it a promising crop for food security and sovereignty [3]. Quinoa contains in the pericarp (86%) some antinutritional compounds, known as saponins [4] which give the grain a bitter taste. These can be highly toxic if ingested in large quantities, so they should be removed before consumption [5]. About 31 triterpenic saponins have been reported for quinoa, with a content between 0.1 and 5%, distributed in all parts of the plant but with a high concentration mainly in the seeds [5, 7]
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