Cereus peruvianus Mill. (Cactaceae) as a source of natural antioxidants: Phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of cladode extracts in two collection periods

Adrieli Rodrigues da Costa Nunes; Claudete Aparecida Mangolin; Arildo José Braz de Oliveira; Regina Aparecida Correia Gonçalves; Alexandre da Silva Avincola; Rafaela Takako Ribeiro de Almeida; Eduardo Jorge Pilau; Maria de Fátima Pires da Silva Machado

doi:10.1016/j.crfs.2022.05.014

Cereus peruvianus Mill. (Cactaceae) as a source of natural antioxidants: Phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of cladode extracts in two collection periods

Curr Res Food Sci. 2022 Jun 9:5:984-991. doi: 10.1016/j.crfs.2022.05.014. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Adrieli Rodrigues da Costa Nunes¹, Claudete Aparecida Mangolin², Arildo José Braz de Oliveira³, Regina Aparecida Correia Gonçalves³, Alexandre da Silva Avincola⁴, Rafaela Takako Ribeiro de Almeida⁵, Eduardo Jorge Pilau⁵, Maria de Fátima Pires da Silva Machado²

Affiliations

¹ PostGraduate Program in Environmental Biotechnology, State University of Maringá, Maringá, PR, Brazil.
² Department of Biotechnology, Genetics and Cell Biology, State University of Maringá, Maringá, PR, Brazil.
³ Department of Pharmacy, State University of Maringá, Maringá, PR, Brazil.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, State University of Maringá, Maringá, PR, Brazil.
⁵ Post-Graduate Program in Chemistry, State University of Maringá, Maringá, PR, Brazil.

Abstract

The economic potential of the cactus species Cereus peruvianus Mill. (syn. C. hildmannianus K. Schum.) has already been demonstrated through the generation of products and patents. However, the phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity have not yet been evaluated. The aim of our study was to determine the total phenolic compounds, evaluate the antioxidant activity and characterize the phenolic compounds of cladode extracts from C. peruvianus grown in the southern region of Brazil, in two collection periods. Higher total content of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity were detected in the cladode extract collected in 2016 than in the cladode extract collected in 2015. The profile of phenolic compounds identified five flavonoids that had not previously been reported in species of the genus Cereus. The phenolic compounds linked to antioxidant activities identified in the cladode extract from C. peruvianus support the use of this species in human food as a source of natural antioxidants.

Keywords: Cactus; Flavonoids; Polyphenols; Therapeutic potential; UHPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS.