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Evaluation of phenolic antioxidant-linked in vitro bioactivity of Peruvian corn (Zea mays L.) diversity targeting for potential management of hyperglycemia and obesity

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Abstract

Peruvian corn biodiversity is one of the highest in the world and may represent an important natural source of health relevant phenolic bioactive compounds whose potential needs to be investigated. This study investigated twenty-two Peruvian corn samples corresponding to five corn races (Arequipeño, Cabanita, Kculli, Granada and Coruca) in relation to their total phenolic contents (TPC), anthocyanin contents, Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) phenolic profiles and antioxidant capacity (ABTS and ORAC methods). Subsequently using both free and cell-wall bound phenolic fractions their health relevance targeting hyperglycemia (α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibition) and obesity (lipase inhibition) potentials was evaluated using in vitro assay models. Antioxidant capacity and TPC were high in bound fractions from yellow-colored races in contrast to the purple-colored race (Kculli) which had high TPC (mainly anthocyanins) and antioxidant capacity in the free form. The major phenolic acids detected by UPLC were ferulic and p-coumaric acids. High α-glucosidase (32.5–76.1%, 25 mg sample dose) and moderate α-amylase inhibitory activities (13.6–29.0%, 250 mg sample dose) were found in all free fractions, but only samples from the Kculli race had lipase inhibitory activity (58.45–92.16%, 12.5 mg sample dose). Principal component analysis revealed that the variability of data was affected by the race and the α-glucosidase and lipase inhibitory activities positively correlated with anthocyanins and antioxidant capacity. Some accessions of Kculli, Granada and Cabanita races are promising for future breeding strategies focused on the development of improved corn varieties targeted for the design of functional foods relevant for hyperglycemia and obesity prevention.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Maize Research Program (Agrarian University of La Molina, UNALM) for providing the evaluated corn accessions and for the assistance with the race classification of corn samples collected from the region of Arequipa-Peru. We also thank engineer Jorge Medina (Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria INIA-Peru) for the assistance with the corn collection in Arequipa (Peru). This research was supported by the Programa Nacional de Innovación para la Competitividad y Productividad (Innóvate Perú), under the Contract 170-PNICP-BRI-2015.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Research in Food Science, Universidad Catolica de Santa Maria, Urb. San José s/n Umacollo, Arequipa, Peru

    Lena Gálvez Ranilla

  2. Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Av. La Molina s/n, Lima, Peru

    Cinthya Huamán-Alvino, Orlando Flores-Báez, Edson Martin Aquino-Méndez, Rosana Chirinos & David Campos

  3. Maize Research Program, Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Av. La Molina s/n, Lima, Peru

    Ricardo Sevilla

  4. School of Agronomy, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Calle San Francisco s/n La Palma, Quillota, Chile

    Claudia Fuentealba & Romina Pedreschi

  5. Department of Plant Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, 58108, USA

    Dipayan Sarkar & Kalidas Shetty

Authors
  1. Lena Gálvez Ranilla
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  2. Cinthya Huamán-Alvino
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  3. Orlando Flores-Báez
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  4. Edson Martin Aquino-Méndez
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  5. Rosana Chirinos
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  6. David Campos
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  7. Ricardo Sevilla
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  8. Claudia Fuentealba
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  9. Romina Pedreschi
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  10. Dipayan Sarkar
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  11. Kalidas Shetty
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Correspondence to Lena Gálvez Ranilla.

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Ranilla, L.G., Huamán-Alvino, C., Flores-Báez, O. et al. Evaluation of phenolic antioxidant-linked in vitro bioactivity of Peruvian corn (Zea mays L.) diversity targeting for potential management of hyperglycemia and obesity. J Food Sci Technol 56, 2909–2924 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-019-03748-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-019-03748-z

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