IDENTIFICATION AND QUANTIFICATION BY HPLC-PDA-MS OF PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS OF KIWICHA GERMINATED VARIETY OSCAR BLANCO

Kiwicha (Amaranthus caudatus) in an Andean grain from South America, prized for being highly nutritious. Studies show the presence of phenolic compounds (PC) such as flavonoids and phenolic acids, thus demonstrating antioxidant and anticancer activity. Sprouts are considered "functional foods", which favor the reduction of disease risk. The objective of the investigation was to identify and quantify the phenolic compounds generated during the germination process. A bioSnacky® germinator was used for 24 to 72 hrs, at 22 ° C and 95% RH. For the extraction of the PCs, 5g of the sample was used with 15 ml of 70% acid methanol (0.1% acetic acid), homogenized and centrifuged, repeated 2 more times. It was concentrated, re-suspended and filtered for analysis by HPLC-PDA-MS. For the identification and quantification of the phenolic compounds a High-Efficiency Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) system with diode array detector (PDA) and coupled to a mass spectrometer (MS) was used. An XB-C18 column (3.6 μm, 150 × 4.60 mm) was used at 25 ° C. The binary gradient mobile phase with formic acid/water (0.1: 99.9) as solvent A and formic acid/acetonitrile (0.1: 99.9) as solvent B. The injection volume was 10 μL. For vanillic acid, 280 nm, phenolic acids at 320 nm and flavonoids at 360 nm were monitored. The flow of 0.5 ml/min was conducted to the mass spectrometer in positive ion mode. The results showed that the germination process favors the increase of total phenolic compounds from 0,041 ± 0,004 to 4,314 ± 0,806 mg / g. The identified PCs were a total of 8, Ferulic acid 4-glucoside, Caffeoylquinic acid, Ferulic acid-hexoside-hexoside, Trans-ferulic acid, Coumaroylquinic acid, Feruloylquinic acid, Quercetin 3-O-rutinoside, and an unknown compound, presenting an impact positive (α <0.05) in phytochemical composition.