In Vitro and Ex Vivo Chemopreventive Action of Mauritia flexuosa Products

• Published in: Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine 2018-01, Vol.2018 (2018), p.1-12
• Main Authors: Nunes, Nárcia Mariana Fonseca, Lopes, Luciano da Silva, Rolim, Larissa Araújo, Costa-Júnior, Joaquim Soares da, Ferreira, Paulo Michel Pinheiro, de Oliveira, Guilherme Antônio Lopes, Teixeira, Sabrina Almondes, Lima, Ana Cristina Silva de, Arcanjo-Medeiros, Stella Regina, Ramos, Carla Lorena Silva, Lima, Layana Karine F., Oliveira, George L. S., Pereira-Freire, Joilane Alves, Amorim, Vivianne Rodrigues
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acids; Aluminum; Antioxidants; Arecaceae; Ascorbic acid; Bioactive compounds; Bioavailability; Biotechnology; Blood cells; Byproducts; Calibration; Cancer; Carotenoids; Digestive system; Flavonoids; Free radicals; Fruits; Gastrointestinal tract; High-performance liquid chromatography; Isoflavones; Liquid chromatography; Livestock; Local communities; Lysis; Mauritia flexuosa; Natural resources; Organic acids; Oxidative stress; Peroxyl radicals; Phenolic compounds; Phenols; Potassium; Prevention; Pulp; R&D; Research & development; Sodium; Tannins
• ISSN: 1741-427X; 1741-4288
• DOI: 10.1155/2018/2051279

Mauritia flexuosa (Arecaceae), known as “Buriti,” is a Brazilian palm tree with high economic potential for local communities. Herein, we investigated the phytochemistry profile and antioxidant potential of M. flexuosa fruits and determined the bioaccessibility of phenolic compounds. Peels revealed upper values for phenols, flavonoids, carotenoids, tannins, and ascorbic acid when compared to the pulps and endocarps. All samples showed capacity to scavenger free radicals (0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, and 8.0 mg/mL) but peels presented higher scavenger action in all methods explored. Phenolic compounds identified by HPLC displayed reduced bioaccessibility after in vitro simulated gastrointestinal digestion for pulp (38.7%), peel (18.7%), and endocarp (22.3%) extracts ( P < 0.05 ). Buriti fruits also protected rat blood cells against lysis induced by peroxyl radicals. We demonstrated the promising chemopreventive potentialities of M. flexuosa fruits and their by-products and peels with higher quantities of bioactive compounds and phenolic substances before and after in vitro bioaccessibility investigation. In Brazil, these parts are discarded or underused, mainly as feed for ruminant animals. Consequently, it is extremely important to explore nutritional characteristics of these by-products for human/livestock foods and to install biofriendly techniques and sustainable biotechnology handling of natural resources.