Nutritional and antioxidant properties of Geoffroea decorticans, an Argentinean fruit, and derived products (flour, arrope, decoction and hydroalcoholic beverage)

Abstract

Geoffroea decorticans, popularly known as “Chañar,” is widely distributed throughout Northwestern Argentina. Its fruit is consumed in different forms (flour, arrope, and hydroalcoholic beverage) in several Argentinean communities. The aim of this work is to quantify macronutrients and phytochemicals of G. decorticans fruit and its derived products as well as to determine its functional properties and toxicity. A high content of fiber and other phytochemicals (carotenoids, ascorbic acid and polyphenols, principally non flavonoids) were detected in Chañar flour. Since physicochemical changes that affect the functional properties of the fruit may occur during processing, different traditional foods were obtained from the fruit and their properties were studied. The phenolic compound content in different arrope types (with and without sugar added) was lower (between 3 and 18 fold) than that of Chañar flour. Condensed tannins were the dominant phenolics in the flour but in arrope without sugar they decreased 21 fold and in arrope with sugar were not detected. The content of ascorbic acid in arrope was similar to that of flour. All preparations obtained from flour and arrope showed hydrogen or electron donor capacity and were active as lipoperoxidation inhibitors. On the other hand, extracts did not show any mutagenic effect. The consumption of Chañar flour, beverage, decoction and arrope could be encouraged for their functional and nutritional properties. The exploitation of this native natural resource could be very important for regional economy.