The current study reports for the first time the nutritional, fruit volatiles, phytochemical, and biological characteristics of Ferocactus herrerae J. G. Ortega fruits. The nutritional analysis revealed that carbohydrate (20.6%) was the most abundant nutrient followed by dietary fibers (11.8%), lipids (0.9%), and proteins (0.8%). It was rich in vitamins, minerals, essential, and non-essential amino acids. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of the headspace-extracted volatiles showed that 3-methyl octadecane (35.72 ± 2.38%) was the major constituent detected. Spectrophotometric determination of total phenolic and flavonoid contents of the fruit methanolic extract (ME) showed high total phenolic [9.17 ± 0.87 mg/g gallic acid equivalent (GAE)] and flavonoid [4.99 ± 0.23 mg/g quercetin equivalent (QE)] contents. The ME was analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet (HPLC-UV), which allowed for both qualitative and quantitative estimation of 16 phenolic compounds. Caffeic acid was the major phenolic acid identified [45.03 ± 0.45 mg/100 g dried powdered fruits (DW)] while quercitrin (52.65 ± 0.31 mg/100 g DW), was the major flavonoid detected. In-vitro assessment of the antioxidant capacities of the ME revealed pronounced activity using three comparative methods; 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) (132.06 ± 2.1 μM Trolox equivalent (TE) /g), 2,2'-azino-di(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS), (241.1 ± 5.03 uM TE/g), and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) (258.9 ± 1.75 uM TE/g). Besides, remarkable anti-inflammatory [COX-1 (IC50 = 20.2 ± 1.1 μg/mL) and COX-2 (IC50 = 9.8 ± 0.64 μg/mL)] and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory (IC50 = 1.01 ± 0.39 mg/mL) activities were observed. Finally, our results revealed that these fruits could be used effectively as functional foods and nutraceuticals suggesting an increase in their propagation.
Keywords: Acetylcholinesterase inhibition; Antioxidant activity; COX inhibition; Ferocactus herrerae; HPLC; Headspace.
© 2022. The Author(s).