Caracterização físico-química e análise da capacidade antioxidante da maca peruana (Lepidium meyenii Walp.)

Abstract

Lepidium meyenii, also known as Peruvian Maca, is considered a functional food due to its physicochemical and biochemical properties. It is utilized in traditional medicine as a food supplement and for various therapeutic purposes, such as disarming free radicals due to its antioxidant capacity. The objective of this study was the Peruvians’s Maca physicochemical characterization, as well as studying its bioactive properties regarding to its antioxidant capacity using extracts obtained with different solvents. The Peruvian Maca obtained at Mercado Central (Goiânia - GO) was analyzed for its proximate composition, which covers humidity, ashes, lipids, proteins and carbohydrates. Therefore, it was characterized biochemically and its pH, total titratable acidity, total sugars, starch, phenolic compounds (CF) and antioxidant capacity were determined by DPPH and ABTS+. The analytic results obtained regarding the proximal composition and antioxidant capacity were values of 7,54g ± 0,05 the humidity, 3,27g ± 0,05g the ashes, 8,70g ± 0,28g the proteins, 1,54g ± 0,21 the lipids, 79g ± 0,59 the carbohydrates, 4,88 ± 0,005 pH, 0,69 ± 0,02 de acidity, 32,54 % ± 1,38 the total sugars, 18,07g ± 1,43 the sucrose and 61,19% ± 0,97 the starch.Regarding the amount of CF and antioxidant capacity, the hydroalcoholic extract 60% was the one that best extracted the antioxidants from Peruvian Maca, presenting 197,62 mg of gallic acid/100g ± 1,8 of FC; 0,37 g of sample/g DPPH ± 0,16 at EC50 and 1482,49 μM trolox values. g-1 ± 0,65 per ABTS+ assay. We concluded that Peruvian Maca had good nutritional characteristics, in addition to having good antioxidant capacity, better observed in the hydroalcoholic extract 60%, due to the presence of phenolic compounds.