Nutritional and functional evaluation of three powder mixtures based on mexican quelites: alternative ingredients to formulate food supplements

Yair Olovaldo Santiago-Saenz,Alma Delia Hernández-Fuentes,Jorge Gutiérrez-Tlahque,Rebeca Monroy-Torres,José Manuel Pinedo-Espinoza,César Uriel López-Palestina

doi:10.1590/fst.28419

Abstract

The aim of this work was to evaluate the nutrients and antioxidant compounds of three mixtures based on leaves of Portulaca oleracea L. (P), Amaranthus hybridus L. (A) and Chenopodium berlandieri L. (C). A mixtures design was made of which 10 combinations were obtained and three of the best mixtures were selected to analysis: OP1 (P+C), OP2 (P+A) and OP3 (C+A). A macronutrient, micronutrient analysis and a HPLC profile of phenolic compounds and amino acids were performed; in addition, in vitro antioxidant activity was measured by DPPH, ABTS and FRAP assays. Results showed that OP1 has a greater content of phenolic compounds, as evidenced by increases in antioxidant activity. Proximal chemical analysis showed that OP3 has a higher protein content and dietary fiber. The main phenolic compound present was phloridzin in OP1 and OP3; on the other hand, the amino acids lysine and glutamic acid were present at high concentrations in the three mixtures. These results showed that the OP1 mixture has the best antioxidant and nutritional properties; therefore, it has the potential to be included as an ingredient in food systems or nutraceutical and biomedical applications.

Highlights

Nowadays it is known that the consumption of native species brings benefits to the health of consumers and may represent alternatives to human nutrition, due to the presence of natural compounds that contain (Nana et al, 2012; Barreira et al, 2019)
Since purslane has a higher level of α-linolenic acid (18:3), and omega 3 fatty acid essential for human nutrition, than any other green leafy vegetable, and is rich in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) (Oliveira et al, 2009; Uddin et al, 2014)
Regarding to the dietary fiber content we found a good concentration in the OP3 sample

Summary

Introduction

Nowadays it is known that the consumption of native species brings benefits to the health of consumers and may represent alternatives to human nutrition, due to the presence of natural compounds that contain (Nana et al, 2012; Barreira et al, 2019). Plants belonging to the genera Portulaca spp., Amaranthus spp., and Chenopodium spp., are considered viable food options due to their high nutritional value and economic advantages associated with the ability of these plants to develop under unfavorable climatic conditions (Fasuyi, 2007; Oliveira et al, 2009; Uddin et al, 2014; Slabbert & Krüger, 2014; Hsu et al, 2016). The consumption of these wild plants brings multiple health benefits due to their antioxidant effects (Santiago-Saenz et al, 2019; Al-Quraishy et al, 2012) Several studies have shown that some species of these genera are a good source of nutrients and bioactive compounds, as Ca, Mg, Zn and Fe, protein, amino acids such as alanin, leucine and glycine and important concentrations of phenols, flavonoids, carotenoids and omega 3 (Fasuyi, 2007; Santiago-Saenz et al, 2019; Slabbert & Krüger, 2014; Alam et al, 2014; Simopoulos, 2004).

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