Evaluation of the antioxidant activity of eight tropical fruits by DPPH method
2018
Barreiros, M. L. | Jesus, R. A de | Barreiros, A. L. B. S. | Sandes, T. S. | Ramalho, S. A. | Narain, N.
The interest in the study of antioxidants has increased considerably, mainly due to the findings on the effects of free radicals in the human body. Studies have shown that populations with diets based on fruits and vegetables have a low incidence of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, among others. The protective effect of food has been attributed to the presence of antioxidant compounds, such as C and E vitamins, carotenoids and phenolic compounds. The fact that fruits possess biologically active substances that bring health benefits justify the studies on the antioxidant capacity of Brazilian tropical fruits. This paper has as objective to determine the antioxidant activity by the method of DPPH radical scavenging and to determinate the total phenolic content by Folin-Ciocalteu method of the fruits of Spondias sp. (cajá-umbu), Spondias tuberosa (umbu), Spondias purpurea (siriguela), Hancornia speciosa (mangaba), Annona muricata (soursop), Rollinia mucosa (biribá), Pouteria caimito (abiu) and Solanum sessiliflorum (cubiú). Among the various fruits, the pulp of soursop, mangaba and siriguela showed the most significant results of total phenolic compounds, being 150.08, 144.00 and 123.84 mg 100 g-1, respectively. All fruits analyzed showed antioxidant activity by DPPH radical scavenging, but soursop, mangaba and siriguela were the most active with IC50 values of 1.77, 2.00 and 2.35 mg mL-1, respectively. The extracts of cajá-umbu and umbu showed moderate activity with IC50 values of 3.39 and 4.83 mg mL-1. The antioxidant activity of these fruits in decreasing order was: soursop, mangaba, siriguela, cajá-umbu, umbu, cubiu, abiu and biribá. Those fruits can serve as natural antioxidant sources; however, their intake is mostly restricted to the north-east region of Brazil.
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