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Phytochemical Profile, Antioxidant and Cytotoxic Activities of the Carob Tree (Ceratonia siliqua L.) Germ Flour Extracts

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Abstract

This work aimed to evaluate the phytochemical content and to determine the antioxidant and cytotoxic activities of methanol extracts of the carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua L.) germ flour. The extracts were rich in phenolic compounds, had considerable antioxidant activity, and reduced the viability of cervical (HeLa) cancer cells. The chemical content and the biological activities of the extracts were significantly affected by gender and cultivar. Female cultivar Galhosa had the highest levels of phenolic compounds, and the highest antioxidant activity. Extracts from the hermaphrodite trees and from the female cultivars Galhosa and Costela/Canela exhibited the highest cytotoxic activity. The most abundant compound was theophylline. The phenolic content was correlated to both antioxidant and cytotoxic activities. Our findings provide new knowledge about the health implications of consuming food supplemented with carob germ flour.

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Abbreviations

RSA:

Radical scavenging activity

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by CICYT (CTQ2006-03794/BQU), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CB06_01_0074 and PI060624), the Generalitat de Catalunya (2005SGR 00662), the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, and the Barcelona Science Park. L. Custódio thanks to the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for a post-doctoral grant (grant SFRH/BPD/20736/2004). The authors thank DANISCO Portugal Industrias de Alfarroba, LDA for providing the germ flour samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Centre of Genomics and Biotechnology (IBB/CGB), Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Algarve, Ed. 8, Campus of Gambelas, Faro, Portugal

    Luísa Custódio, Ana Luísa Escapa, Eliana Fernandes & Anabela Romano

  2. Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Alba Fajardo & Rosa Aligué

  3. Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Barcelona Science Park, Baldiri Reixac 10, Barcelona, 08028, Spain

    Fernando Alberício

  4. CIBER-BBN, Networking Centre on Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine, Barcelona Science Park, Baldiri Reixac 10, Barcelona, 08028, Spain

    Fernando Alberício

  5. Department of Organic Chemistry, University of Barcelona, Martí i Franqués 1-11, Barcelona, 08028, Spain

    Fernando Alberício

  6. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Center of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Lisbon, Faculty of Sciences, Campo Grande, Ed. C8, Lisbon, 1749-016, Portugal

    Nuno Neng & José Manuel Florêncio Nogueira

  7. CCMAR—Center of Marine Sciences, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Algarve, Ed. 7, Campus of Gambelas, Faro, Portugal

    Luísa Custódio

Authors
  1. Luísa Custódio
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  2. Ana Luísa Escapa
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  3. Eliana Fernandes
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  4. Alba Fajardo
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  5. Rosa Aligué
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  6. Fernando Alberício
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  7. Nuno Neng
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  8. José Manuel Florêncio Nogueira
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  9. Anabela Romano
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Correspondence to Luísa Custódio.

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Custódio, L., Escapa, A.L., Fernandes, E. et al. Phytochemical Profile, Antioxidant and Cytotoxic Activities of the Carob Tree (Ceratonia siliqua L.) Germ Flour Extracts. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 66, 78–84 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-011-0214-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-011-0214-8

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