Psidium cattleianum fruit extracts are efficient in vitro scavengers of physiologically relevant reactive oxygen and nitrogen species

Abstract

Psidium cattleianum, an unexploited Brazilian native fruit, is considered a potential source of bioactive compounds. In the present study, the in vitro scavenging capacity of skin and pulp extracts from P. cattleianum fruits against reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) was evaluated by in vitro screening assays. Additionally, the composition of phenolic compounds and carotenoids in both extracts was determined by LC-MS/MS. The major phenolic compounds identified and quantified (dry matter) in the skin and pulp extracts of P. cattleianum were ellagic acid (2213-3818 μg/g extracts), ellagic acid deoxyhexoside (1475-2,070 μg/g extracts) and epicatechin gallate (885-1,603 μg/g extracts); while all-trans-lutein (2-10 μg/g extracts), all-trans-antheraxanthin (1.6-9 μg/g extracts) and all-trans-β-carotene (4-6 μg/g extracts) were the major carotenoids identified in both extracts. P. cattleianum pulp extract showed higher scavenging capacity than skin extract for all tested ROS and RNS. Considering the potential beneficial effects to human health, P. cattleianum may be considered as a good source of natural antioxidants and may be useful for the food and phytopharmaceutical industry.

Keywords: Antioxidant capacity; Carotenoids; LC–MS; Phenolic compounds; RNS; ROS; Strawberry guava.