Abstract
European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is a deciduous tree, widely distributed in Europe and largely appreciated for its wood and nutritive nuts. Beech leaf also enjoys food use as salad, but an understanding of its nutraceutical value is still far from being achieved. Indeed, and also taking into account beech leaf as a consistent biomass residue available beechwood production and use, it needs to be explored as a valuable renewable specialized source of bioactive molecules. In this context, an untargeted ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography hyphenated with high resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS) approach was favorably applied to a beech leaf alcoholic extract, which also was evaluated for its antiradical capability (by means of assays based on 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and [2,2’-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazolin-6-sulfonic acid)] (ABTS) radical cation) and its ferric ion reducing power. Redox mitochondrial activity towards Caco-2 cells paved the way to explore the extract’s capability to inhibit intracellular Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) using 2’,7’dichlorofluorescin diacetate (DCFH-DA) assay. Hydroxycinnamoyl derivatives, mainly belonging to the chlorogenic acid class, and flavonoids were the main constituents. Uncommon flavanone C-glycosides were also found, together with a plentiful flavonol diversity. Cell-free and cell-based assays highlight its dose-dependent antioxidant efficacy, providing a foundation for further investigation of beech leaf constituents and its valorization and use as a reservoir of bioactive natural products with potential nutraceutical applications.
Highlights
Nowadays, the replacement of synthetic and artificial chemicals with natural products with less impact on human or animal health and environment, makes their recovery a major challenge
Leaves harvested between ca. 0.5 and 2 m above ground were collected from six individual trees of various ages
The growing consciousness of environmental sustainability promotes the recovery of waste from production chains, as basis and foundation of a circular economy
Summary
The replacement of synthetic and artificial chemicals with natural products with less impact on human or animal health and environment, makes their recovery a major challenge. Great efforts have been devoted to the discovery and exploitation of renewable sources of valuable bioactive compounds, such as the so-called bioactive specialized natural products. These latter include a number of compound classes and sub-classes that, in the last years, have attracted a lot of attention for a possible application in various sectors (i.e., nutri-cosmeceutical, medical and pharmacological), due to their recognized benefits for human and animal health [1]. Byproducts from forestry and wood processing industry are promising feedstocks for the
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