Leguminous Flour from the Native Argentinian Forest, Their Contribution to Antioxidant Defense

Abstract

The oxygen-reactive species may generate oxidative stress, which could result in degenerative diseases. Antioxidant mechanisms usually act in a coordinated way, and they are grouped in two defense systems: enzymatic and nonenzymatic system. The metallo-dependent enzymes of the organism and the natural substances present in legumes have the capacity to delay, decrease or inhibit the oxidative processes.This work aimed to evaluate the bioaccessibility of zinc and bioactive compounds of flour obtained from Argentinian native forest fruits corresponding to the family of leguminous plants: white carob (Prosopis alba) and Chañar(Geoffroea decorticans), in order to use them in human food.The study was done on carob flour (CF) and chañar flour (CHF). The minerals were quantified by atomic absorption spectrometry. Bioaccessibility (D%) was estimated by dialysate percentage after in vitro digestion. The potentialcontribution (PC) was calculated. Their phenolic concentrations were obtained using the Folin Ciocalteu method and their antioxidant activity was evaluated in vitro using the radical DPPH (1,1-diphenil-2-pichrihydracil) and expressed as the percentage of the trapping capacity against DPPH.CF and CHF presented contents of Zn of 1.20 and 1.48 mg / 100g; D% 24 and 28; PC 0.29 and 0.41 respectively. CHF contains 112 ± 18.3mg EAG/100g of total phenols and AF 156 ± 16.9 mg EAG/100g. The results showed that the antioxidant potential was higher in CHF 39.78% than CF: 16.4%, in preparations with 100 mg/l. The values for the discoloring percentage of DPPH radical were corrected considering the standard quercetine with a value of 100% antioxidant capacity. The samples under study are good sources of Zn, cofactor of the enzyme superoxide dismutase and of antioxidants, mainly of phenolic compounds. Therefore, these flours couldbe suitable for functional foods formulation.