Sweet cherries from Fundão as health promotors: chemical characterization and biological potential
Year: 2016
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Cherries are one of the most appreciated summer fruits by consumers because of their attractive color, sweet taste, high water content, low level of calories and due to the presence of numerous bioactive compounds in their constitution, which produce metabolic and physiological effects, that are important to prevent some pathologies, such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Portugal produces about 15 thousand tons of cherries per year, most of them cultivated in the northeast of the country, more specifically in the regions of Beira Interior (Fundão, Covilhã and Belmonte). In this work, we evaluated the phenolic profile and biological potential of five varieties of sweet cherries from Fundão region (Saco, Sweetheart, Satin, Maring e Hedelfinger). The analysis performed by liquid chromatography with diode-array detection allowed to identify a total of twenty-three phenolic compounds, including one hydroxybenzoic acid, eight hydroxycinnamic acids, five flavonols, three flavan-3-ols and six anthocyanins, confirming that cherries are an excellent natural source of bioactive compounds, mainly hydroxycinnamic acids and anthocyanins. The antioxidant potential was assessed by FRAP, and against DPPH and nitric oxide radicals. After a detailed analysis of the obtained results, it was possible to infer that Sweetheart cultivar showed the highest antioxidant potential in FRAP (26.7 µM Fe2+), while Hedelfinger and Maring were the most active against DPPH and nitric oxide radicals (IC50 = 12.1 µg/mL e IC50 = 140.9 µg/mL, respectively). Thereafter, it was studied the antidiabetic potential of cherries extracts by determination of the inhibitory capacity of a-glucosidase, highlighting Hedelfinger cultivar as the most active (IC50 = 10.3 µg/mL). Subsequently, it was assessed the capacity of the extracts from Saco to inhibit the oxidation of hemoglobin and the hemolysis of human erythrocytes. Both assays revealed an inhibitory effect dependent on the concentration (IC50 = 38.6 µg/mL e IC50 = 73.0 µg/mL, respectively). In a general way, it was found that Saco and Hedelfinger were the most active, having been found a correlation between the phenolic content of the different varieties of cherries and the biological potential displayed by extracts. The results obtained with this study allowed us to conclude that sweet cherries possess a great biological potential, being necessary to carry out further investigations in order to encourage the use of cherries extracts in food supplements and in new pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications.
Author: Ana C. Gonçalves
Language: English
Subfield: Biochemistry (medical)
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2900247729