Physical, nutritional, phytochemical and antioxidant capacity evaluation of Inga laurina

The Fabaceae family is the third largest of the Angiosperms, with about 19.500 species, distributed in 770 gene. Several species of the Fabaceae family are economically essential as fodder plants, fiber producers, paints, gums, resins, oils, green manure and as food. A wide variety of secondary metabolites are produced by plants of the Fabaceae family, such as alkaloids, non-protein amino acids, amines, phenylpropanoids, flavonoids, isoflavonoids, phenolic compounds in general, steroids and fatty acid esters. Among the species of importance of this family stands out Inga laurina, which although relevant in flora brasileira, is little studied regarding its chemical and nutritional composition. Thus, this study aims to analyze the nutritional, sensory and phytochemical characteristics of this species. It also aims to investigate the antioxidant activity of extracts, partitions and purified substances obtained from extracts of this fruit and leaves. After collection, the fruits were evaluated for physical characteristics, centesimal and mineral composition of the pulp. The yield of peel, seed and pulp was 58%, 21% and 21%, respectively. It was observed that the seed presented the high protein content (19.52%) and its use can be considered after processing. A pulp is a fiber source (4.5%) and the bark has a high content (11.05%), according to ANVISA's RDC No. 54 of 2012. Regarding minerals, the levels of Cr and K in the pulp stand out. The pulp sensory analysis was also performed, the result of which indicated that it has good acceptance. For phytochemical characterization extracts of the young leaves of Inga laurina were used. In these extracts the presence of phenolic compounds such as myricetin-3-O-α- (2’’-O-gallic acid) rhamnoside and myricetin-3-O-α-L-ramnopyranoside were identified. From the do precipitated bark extract, quercetin-3-O-glycoside was identified. The bark extract was partitioned and different partitions were obtained, among them PHC, PDC, PAC, PBC and RCA analyzed by GC-MS and HPLC-DAD-MS/MS. unsaturated in hexane and dichloromethane partitions, respectively. DPPH, the most active extract was bark precipitate (EPC) (EC50 = 13.30 μg / mL) and the most active partitioning was bark ethyl acetate (PAC) (EC50 = 13.37 μg / mL) both with better activity compared to the control of Ginkgo biloba extract (EC50 = 23.4 μg / mL). DPPH, the most active extract was bark precipitate (EPC) (EC50 = 13.30 μg / mL) and the most active partitioning was bark ethyl acetate (PAC) (EC50 = 13.37 μg / mL) both with better activity compared to the control of Ginkgo biloba extract (EC50 = 23.4 μg / mL).