Roots and rhizomes of wild Asparagus: Nutritional composition, bioactivity and nanoencapsulation of the most potent extract

Khaoula Adouni, Ana Júlio, Celestino Santos-Buelga, Ana M. González-Paramás, Patrícia Filipe, Patricia Rijo, Sofia A. Costa Lima, Salette Reis, Ângela Fernandes, Isabel C.F.R. Ferreira, Virginia Fernández-Ruiz, Patricia Morales, Guido Flamini, Lotfi Achour, Pedro Fonte

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The nutritional composition and bioactive properties of roots and rhizomes of Asparagus stipularis were evaluated. Antioxidant activity of extracts obtained by infusion was evaluated using free radicals scavenging and reducing power methods. Porcine liver primary cell was used to check the hepatotoxicity of infusions. Results revealed that Asparagus samples are likely a source of nutrients, such as dietary fibre and essential fatty acids. HPLC-DAD-ESI/MS characterization of infusions allowed the identification and quantitation of 7 phenolic compounds, all hydroxycinnamoyl derivatives, with caffeic acid as the most abundant. Roots infusion contained the highest amounts of these compounds. It also exhibited the highest antioxidant activity in all assays, with EC50 values of 0.44 ± 0.01, 0.98 ± 0.03 and 0.64 ± 0.01 mg/mL for DPPH, ABTS and FRAP assays, respectively, with no toxicity towards PLP2 primary cell cultures (GI50 > 400 μg/mL). PLGA nanoparticles loaded with root extract were prepared using solvent-evaporation double emulsion method. Nanoparticles size was about 260 nm and a polydispersity index around 0.1, with a zeta potential of about -36 mV, as well as a good encapsulation efficiency of approximately 83%. Their morphology was analysed by SEM and spherical polymeric nanoparticles with a smooth surface were observed. FTIR and DSC were also performed, which allowed corroborating the efficacy of the encapsulation and to confirm the production of a stable and robust system to load Asparagus extracts. The developed nanoparticles are expected to be used as delivery systems for bioactive compounds of A. stipularis and they could be used as an innovative dietary supplement.

Original languageEnglish
Article number101334
JournalFood Bioscience
Volume45
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd

Funding

The UCM authors would like to thank to ALIMNOVA Research Group (UCM GR105/18) and Spanish Government through the project PID2019-109365RA-I00. Authors are also grateful to Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020), LAQV (UIDB/50006/2020), CCMar (UIDB/04326/2020), CBIOS (UIDB/ 04567/2020) and iBB-IST (UIDB/04565/2020). A. Fernandes contract was provided by National funding by FCT, P. I., through the institutional scientific employment program-contract. The authors are also grateful to FEDER-Interreg Espa˜ na-Portugal programme for financial support through the project 0377_Iberphenol_6_E. The GIP-USAL is financially supported by the Spanish Government through the project AGL2015- 64522-C2-2-R.

Keywords

  • Antioxidant activity
  • Asparagus stipularis
  • Nanoparticles
  • Nutritional composition
  • PLGA

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