Quinoa as source of bioactive compounds with potential for intestinal health (647.18)

Abstract

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd) is a source of nutrients and bioactive compounds with potential to promote intestinal health. Nine quinoa cultivars produced in the State of Washington and one produced in Peru were assessed for their content of non‐digestible bioactive compounds and their stability to cooking using standard analytical methods. We further investigated the prebiotic activity of a cherry vanilla (CV) cultivar with probiotic pills containing Lactobacillus gasseri, Bifidobacterium bifidum and Bifidobacterium longum. Results of extractable phenolics ranged from 1.48 to 2.42 mg/g for the Temuko and CV cultivars and the non‐extractable phenolics ranged from 1.37 to 3.23 mg/g for the Peru and Black cultivars, respectively. A principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the content of bioactive compounds was similar among quinoa cultivars with the exception of Blanca due to its high phytate content. Phenolics and antioxidant activities were more stable in CV and Faro cultivars after cooking, while non‐digestible compounds remained constant only in the CV cultivar. Growth of probiotics was observed in the CV cultivar (1.2‐fold of starch control) and this was accompanied by a decrease in extractable and non‐extractable phenolics by 44.6% and 21.4%, respectively. Overall, these results suggest the potential of quinoa cultivars for intestinal health. We are currently investigating the modulation of gut microflora by CV quinoa consumption using a murine in vivo model for obesity.