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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania » Eastern Regional Research Center » Microbial and Chemical Food Safety » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #284629
Title: Bioactivities of acai (Euterpe precatoria Mart.) fruit pulp, superior antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties to Euterpe oleracea Mart

Author
item KANG, JIE - Arkansas Children'S Nutrition Research Center (ACNC)
item THAKALI, KESHARI - Arkansas Children'S Nutrition Research Center (ACNC)
item XIE, CHENGHUI - Arkansas Children'S Nutrition Research Center (ACNC)
item KONDO, MIWAKO - Brunswick Laboratories
item TONG, YUDONG - Arkansas Children'S Nutrition Research Center (ACNC)
item OU, BOXIN - Brunswick Laboratories
item JENSEN, GITTE - Aibmr Life Sciences (AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR BIOSOCIAL AND MEDICAL RESEARCH)
item Medina, Marjorie
item SCHAUSS, ALEXANDER - Aibmr Life Sciences (AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR BIOSOCIAL AND MEDICAL RESEARCH)
item WU, XIANLI - Arkansas Children'S Nutrition Research Center (ACNC)

Submitted to: Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/1/2012
Publication Date: 6/1/2012
Citation: Kang, J., Thakali, K.M., Xie, C., Kondo, M., Tong, Y., Ou, B., Jensen, G., Medina, M.B., Schauss, A., Wu, X. 2012. Bioactivities of acaí (Euterpe precatoria Mart.) fruit pulp, superior antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties to Euterpe oleracea Mart. Food Chemistry. 133:671-677.

Interpretive Summary: Acaí from tropical palm trees is considered a ‘superfruit’ with high antioxidant activities. The two types of acai, Euterpe oleracea Mart. and Euterpe precatoria Mart differ in their phytochemical composition. There are numerous studies on Euterpe oleracea (EO) but studies on E. precatoria (EP) remain rare. This study focuses on some phychemical composition and physiological effects of acai. Phenolic compounds have anti-oxidant properties and total phenolics were measured with Fast Blue BB method developed in our laboratory. The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of EP fruit pulps were evaluated by two traditional chemical assays and other cell based assays. The antioxidant capacity of EP fruit pulp was shown to be superior to EO fruit pulp in every chemical based assay. The cell-based assays showed inhibition against oxidative damage and EP indicated more anti-inflammatory effect than EO fruit pulp. EEP has 10 times higher total carotenoids than EO. Overall, total phenolic content, carotenoids, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities were superior to the EO acai variety.

Technical Abstract: There are two predominant palm tree species producing edible fruit known as “açai” found widely dispersed through the Amazon: Euterpe oleracea Mart. and Euterpe precatoria Mart. They differ from each other in terms of how the plants grow and their phytochemical composition. E. oleracea (EO) has received considerable attention as a “super fruit” because of its high antioxidant capacity, while studies on E. precatoria (EP) remain rare. In this study, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of EP fruit pulps were evaluated by different assays including a series of oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) based assays, the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, the cell-based antioxidant protection in erythrocyte (CAP-e) assay, as well as the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-KB) secreted embryonic alkaline phosphatase (SEAP) assay. Total phenolics were also measured as an indication of total phenol content. For comparative purposes, EO fruit pulp was included. The antioxidant capacity of EP fruit pulp was determined to be superior to EO fruit pulp in every chemical based assay. In the cell-based CAP-e assay, EP fruit pulp showed a dose-dependent inhibition against oxidative damage with an IC50 of 0.167 g/L. In the SEAP reporter assay, EP fruit pulp polyphenol-rich extracts inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced NF-kB activation by 23 % (p less than 0.05) at 20 ug/mL, whereas the extract of EO fruit pulp did not show a significant inhibitory effect at comparable doses. In addition, carotenoids were quantified for the first time in EP, since EP has high scavenging capacity against singlet oxygen.