BLUEBERRY AS A SOURCE OF BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS: AVAILABLE OF HYPOLIPEMIANT EFFECT IN MICE

The human dietary has gained the scientific community attention due to the crucial role in the health maintenance, but also in the treatment and prevention of several diseases. Among the food commodities in the dietary, the fruits must have an especial attention due their rich composition in bioactive compounds. Blueberry fruits (Vaccinium sp.) present several bioactive components such as phenolic acids and anthocyanins. These phytochemicals act as antioxidant agents, reducing the oxidative stress, and showing benefic effects against cardiovascular diseases. The present study aimed the characterization of the phenolic composition of blueberry extract and the evaluation of its hypolipemiant effect in mice. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Animal Research of the Universidade do Contestado (protocol 07/17), in which were used males adults Swiss mices. The phenolic profile (phenolic acids, flavanols, flavonols and anthocyanins) was determined by high performance liquid chromatography and the polyphenols content by the Folin-Ciocalteau method. To evaluate the minimal effective intake of the blueberry methanolic extract (1:5 w/v) able of present hypolipemiant effect, the animals received different concentrations (200, 300 e 400 mg/kg) of the extract orally by gavage technique (10 µL of the solution/g of body weight). The control animals received water orally. After 1h of the administration of the blueberry extract, the animals received a dose of Triton WR-1339 (200 mg/kg), which induce to the rise of cholesterol and triglycerides. After 24 hours, the animals were submitted to biochemical analyses of total cholesterol and triglycerides. The results were submitted to statistical analysis (ANOVA; Tukey test (p<0,05) and Pearson Correlation). Based on the biochemical analyses, it was possible to observe that the 300 mg/Kg dose of extract was able to prevent the rise of total cholesterol and triglycerides induced by the Triton WR-1339. Besides, the blueberry extract reduced the serum levels of lipids in relation to the control group in the only intake. Tests of hepatotoxicity (transaminase test) were carried out with this dose (300mg/Kg) and the results showed no evidences of toxic effects of the extract. The result of phenolic composition showed a high significant correlation between the cyanidins and delphinidin 3-glucoside, ferulic acid, trans-resveratrol, total polyphenols and the hypolipemiant effect of the blueberry extract (R>0,99). These results indicate that the bioactive compounds of the blueberry presented important biological activity and might be considered as functional food.