An Edible Oil Enriched with Lycopene from Pink Guava (Psidium guajava L.) Using Different Mechanical Treatments.

According to the regulations of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), organic solvents should be limited in pharmaceutical and food products due to their inherent toxicity. For this reason, this short paper proposes different mechanical treatments to extract lycopene without organic solvents to produce an edible sunflower oil (SFO) enriched with lycopene from fresh pink guavas (Psidium guajava L.) (FPGs). The methodology involves the use of SFO and a combination of mechanical treatments: a waring blender (WB), WB+ high-shear mixing (HSM) and WB+ ultrafine friction grinding (UFFG). The solid:solvent (FPG:SFO) ratios used in all the techniques were 1:5, 1:10 and 1:20. The results from optical microscopy and UV-vis spectroscopy showed a correlation between the concentration of lycopene in SFO, vegetable tissue diameters and FPG:SFO ratio. The highest lycopene concentration, 18.215 ± 1.834 mg/g FPG, was achieved in WB + UFFG with an FPG:SFO ratio of 1:20. The yield of this treatment was 66% in comparison to the conventional extraction method. The maximal lycopene concentration achieved in this work was significantly higher than the values reported by other authors, using high-pressure homogenization for tomato peel and several solvents such as water, SFO, ethyl lactate and acetone.

Bioactive compounds in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) variety saladette and their relationship with soil mineral content.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the mineral composition of soils and the bioactive compound content present in tomatoes grown in three regions of Mexico: the state of San Luis Potosí and Tultitlán and Cuautitlán Izcalli from the State of México: Total phenolic compounds, lycopene, and rutin were higher in the Tultitlán tomatoes and were associated with the thallium and magnesium content in the soil. Chlorogenic acid and quercetin in the fruit from C.IZC were associated with molybdenum and nickel found in the soil. A principal component analysis showed that cupper, iron, sodium, manganese, and lead in the soil had a relationship with the antioxidant activity (AA), resveratrol, and naringin in the fruit from SLP. In the soil from TUL, a relationship between thallium with lycopene and rutin with magnesium was found. Some elements in the soil were related to the bioactivities of the fruit.

Atividade antioxidante e compostos bioativos em espécies de um fragmento de Cerrado goiano tipo cerradão / Antioxidant activity and bioactive compounds in species of a fragment of Goiano the Cerrado type cerradão

O Cerrado apresenta uma exuberante flora adaptada aos mais variados tipos fitofisionômicos, onde o cerradão apresenta inúmeras espécies que constituem a flora brasileira. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar os teores de compostos fenólicos, atividade antioxidante, β-caroteno, licopeno e provitamina A em extratos etanólicos foliares de dezessete espécies vegetais coletadas em um fragmento de Cerrado no município de Rio Verde GO, caracterizado como cerradão. Os resultados apresentaram expressivos teores de fenólicos totais e atividade antioxidante, exceto para A. humile, B. intermedia e K. lathrophytum que não houve atividade antioxidante, bem como quantidades significativas de betacaroteno e provitamina A, para algumas delas. Foram observados também altos teores de licopeno em todos os extratos foliares avaliados. As espécies vegetais do Cerrado caracterizam importante material fitoquímico para produção de medicamentos e alimentos ricos em compostos químicos importantes para a saúde e bem estar humano e animal.(AU)

The Cerrado presents an exuberant flora adapted to the most varied types of phytophysiognomies, where the cerradão presentes numerous species that constitute the Brazilian flora. The objective of this study was to evaluate the levels of phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, β-carotene, lycopene and provitamin A in foliar ethanolic extracts of seventeen plant species collected in a Cerrado fragmente in the municipality of Rio Verde - GO, characterized as cerradão. The results presented significant levels of total phenolics and antioxidant activity, except for A. humile, B. intermedia and K. lathr ophytum that there was no antioxidant activity, as well as significant amounts of beta-carotene and provitamin A, for some of them. High levels of lycopene were also observed in all leaf extracts evaluated. The Cerrado plant species characterize important phytochemical material for the production of drugs and foods rich in chemical compounds important for human and animal health and welfare.(AU)

Atividade antioxidante e compostos bioativos em espécies de um fragmento de Cerrado goiano tipo cerradão / Antioxidant activity and bioactive compounds in species of a fragment of Goiano the Cerrado type cerradão

O Cerrado apresenta uma exuberante flora adaptada aos mais variados tipos fitofisionômicos, onde o cerradão apresenta inúmeras espécies que constituem a flora brasileira. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar os teores de compostos fenólicos, atividade antioxidante, β-caroteno, licopeno e provitamina A em extratos etanólicos foliares de dezessete espécies vegetais coletadas em um fragmento de Cerrado no município de Rio Verde – GO, caracterizado como cerradão. Os resultados apresentaram expressivos teores de fenólicos totais e atividade antioxidante, exceto para A. humile, B. intermedia e K. lathrophytum que não houve atividade antioxidante, bem como quantidades significativas de betacaroteno e provitamina A, para algumas delas. Foram observados também altos teores de licopeno em todos os extratos foliares avaliados. As espécies vegetais do Cerrado caracterizam importante material fitoquímico para produção de medicamentos e alimentos ricos em compostos químicos importantes para a saúde e bem estar humano e animal.

The Cerrado presents an exuberant flora adapted to the most varied types of phytophysiognomies, where the cerradão presentes numerous species that constitute the Brazilian flora. The objective of this study was to evaluate the levels of phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, β-carotene, lycopene and provitamin A in foliar ethanolic extracts of seventeen plant species collected in a Cerrado fragmente in the municipality of Rio Verde - GO, characterized as cerradão. The results presented significant levels of total phenolics and antioxidant activity, except for A. humile, B. intermedia and K. lathr ophytum that there was no antioxidant activity, as well as significant amounts of beta-carotene and provitamin A, for some of them. High levels of lycopene were also observed in all leaf extracts evaluated. The Cerrado plant species characterize important phytochemical material for the production of drugs and foods rich in chemical compounds important for human and animal health and welfare.

Non-conventional Tropical Fruits: Characterization, Antioxidant Potential and Carotenoid Bioaccessibility.

Eleven non-conventional tropical fruits were evaluated regarding their nutritional value, antioxidant potential, carotenoid contents and bioaccessibility. The fruits were chosen due to their spread through the Brazilian territory: araçá-boi, jaracatiá, cambuití, seriguela, capeba, pitangatuba, pitanga, buriti, acerola, dovialis and abricó-da-praia. Results have shown that these fruits are in general, i.e. depending on the fruit, rich sources of dietary fibers and minerals, high in moisture, and low in proteins. Twelve carotenoids were analyzed by HPLC-DAD and results ranged from 0.04 to 104 µg/g wet weight. Xanthophylls stood out, being higher than carotenes for araçá-boi, seriguela, pitangatuba and dovialis. Bioaccessibility varied both between fruits and carotenoids ranging from 2 to 75%. Although the fruit matrix effect, xanthophylls were more bioaccessible than carotenes, while lycopene and γ-carotene presented the poorest bioaccessibility. The present study is fundamental to expand the knowledge about the fruit properties, carotenoids bioaccessibility and potential benefits for health, as well to preserve natural resources and encourage the intake of new fruits for human nutrition.

Potential of cassava clones enriched with ß-carotene and lycopene for zinc biofortification under different soil Zn conditions.

BACKGROUND: Zinc (Zn) deficiency is a major human health concern worldwide, and biofortification (genetic and agronomic) is a complementary solution for increasing micronutrient contents, including Zn. Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) has been used for Zn biofortification because it is an important staple crop in most countries affected by malnutrition and Zn deficiency. Thus studies on biofortification of this crop can improve its nutritional quality. Zn content in cassava clones enriched with ß-carotene or lycopene and cultivated under different areas and soil managements was investigated to evaluate the influence of genotypic variation and agronomic management on Zn status in the plant. RESULTS: A clone-specific response to total Zn content in the soil was found, with clones 26, 215, and 240 (ß-carotene enriched) and clones 341 and 395 (lycopene enriched) being the most responsive. For both experiments, there was a positive interaction between total soil Zn and Zn content in the roots. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that, by combining plant breeding and agronomic strategies, it is possible to enrich cassava roots with both zinc and ß-carotene or lycopene. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

Characterization of tomato processing by-product for use as a potential functional food ingredient: nutritional composition, antioxidant activity and bioactive compounds.

Tomato pomace, a by-product generated during tomato processing, was collected at a large tomato processing industry. The by-product was mainly constituted of tomato skin (61.5%), and presented high moisture content (66.58 g.100g-1 wet basis). Among the nutrients, the highest content was of dietary fibre, followed by proteins and fat (50.74, 20.91, 14.14 g.100g-1 d.w., respectively). The pomace has high in vitro antioxidation capacity, especially when measured with the TEAC assay (224.81 µmol Trolox equivalent 100g-1 d.w.). This is due especially to the high amount of lycopene remaining in the by-product after processing (446.9 µg.g-1 d.w). The waste was fractioned into skin and seed fractions by sedimentation, resulting in the increase of lycopene yield by 55%, when using skin fraction as the source material in place of the whole pomace. This by-product shows great potential for being used as a source of the ingredients of high nutritional value, especially dietary fibre and lycopene.

High hydrostatic pressure treatments trigger de novo carotenoid biosynthesis in papaya fruit (Carica papaya cv. Maradol).

High hydrostatic pressure (HHP) processing is a non-thermal technology reported to increase desirable metabolites in plant foods. This work evaluated changes in carotenoid accumulation in fresh-cut papaya fruit as affected by HHP treatment (50-400 MPa for 3-60 min) and during subsequent storage at 4 °C; simultaneously, transcriptional activities of carotenoid biosynthetic genes and oxidative stress markers were evaluated. LC-MS analyses revealed that HHP treatment increased carotenoid precursors and carotenes contents following processing and storage: lycopene levels increased up to 11-fold compared to the non-treated samples, and H2O2 and lipid peroxidation were concomitantly increased. qRT-PCR of intact RNA showed that the amount of phytoene desaturase transcripts increased after HHP treatment, and that they were correlated with carotene accumulation. This is the first study to show that HHP treatment triggers de novo carotenoid biosynthesis, which is regulated at the transcriptional level, possibly by inducing oxidative stress signaling in fruit tissue.

Ultrasound processing of guava juice: Effect on structure, physical properties and lycopene in vitro accessibility.

The present work evaluated the effect of high-power ultrasonication on the structure and properties of guava juice. The microstructure, concentration of lycopene, in vitro accessibility of lycopene and physical properties (pulp sedimentation, turbidity and colour) were evaluated. The results of this study demonstrate that the ultrasonication disrupts the guava cells, releasing their content and altering the juice properties. Although this processing decreases the total amount of lycopene in guava juice, the release of lycopene from the cells increased its in vitro accessibility. Furthermore, the size reduction of the dispersed pulp particles improved the physical stability of the juice, avoiding pulp sedimentation without significant colour changes during storage. In conclusion, it is suggested that ultrasonication is an interesting alternative to improve the physical and nutritional properties of fruit juices.

Lycopene-rich extract from red guava (Psidium guajava L.) displays cytotoxic effect against human breast adenocarcinoma cell line MCF-7 via an apoptotic-like pathway.

This study investigated a lycopene-rich extract from red guava (LEG) for its chemical composition using spectrophotometry, mass spectrometry, attenuated total reflectance-fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), and computational studies. The cytotoxic activity of LEG and the underlying mechanism was studied in human breast adenocarcinoma cells (MCF-7), murine fibroblast cells (NIH-3T3), BALB/c murine peritoneal macrophages, and sheep blood erythrocytes by evaluating the cell viability with 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) method and flow cytometry. Spectrophotometry analysis showed that LEG contained 20% of lycopene per extract dry weight. Experimental and theoretical ATR-FTIR suggests the presence of lycopene, whereas MS/MS spectra obtained after fragmentation of the molecular ion [M]+• of 536.4364 show fragment ions at m/z 269.2259, 375.3034, 444.3788, and 467.3658, corroborating the presence of lycopene mostly related to all-trans configuration. Treatment with LEG (1600 to 6.25µg/mL) for 24 and 72h significantly affected the viability of MCF-7 cells (mean half maximal inhibitory concentration [IC50]=29.85 and 5.964µg/mL, respectively) but not NIH-3T3 cells (IC50=1579 and 911.5µg/mL, respectively). Furthermore LEG at concentrations from 800 to 6.25µg/mL presented low cytotoxicity against BALB/c peritoneal macrophages (IC50≥800µg/mL) and no hemolytic activity. LEG (400 and 800µg/mL) caused reduction in the cell proliferation and induced cell cycle arrest, DNA fragmentation, modifications in the mitochondrial membrane potential, and morphologic changes related to granularity and size in MCF-7 cells; however, it failed to cause any significant damage to the cell membrane or display necrosis or traditional apoptosis. In conclusion, LEG was able to induce cytostatic and cytotoxic effects on breast cancer cells probably via induction of an apoptotic-like pathway.