Journal of Nutrition & Food Sciences
Open Access
ISSN: 2155-9600
+32 25889658
ISSN: 2155-9600
+32 25889658
Juana Cabanes Cos, Jimenez-Atienzar M, Escribano-Cebrian J, Garcia-Carmona F and Gandia-Herrero F
University of Murcia, Spain
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Nutr Food Sci
The role of dietary bioactive compounds in human nutrition is one of the most important areas of investigation with the findings having wide-ranging implications for consumers� health. Betalains, water-soluble pigments belonging to plants of the order Caryophyllales posses� high antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities that have been described for plant extracts and purified pigments. These activities support the chemopreventive potential of betalains against different types of cancer. Betalains are divided into two groups: The violet betacyanins and the yellow betaxanthins. Betalains give color to flowers of a great variety of plants and they are also present in edible sources like beet root (Beta vulgaris) and cactus pear (Opuntia). The former is used by the food industry, as a natural colorant in different foods and beverages. It has been described that the presence of hydroxyl groups in the molecule increases the antioxidant and antiradical capacity of the pigments in both betaxanthins and betacyanins. Despite their coloring capacity and superior antiradical activity, the dihydroxylated betalains have not been considered by the food industry as potential additives. This is in part due to their instability, which prevents long-term storage. This work describes the extraction and purification of dopamine-betaxanthin, a dihydroxylated betalain from yellow flowers of Portulaca oleracea. The pigment exhibits high free radical scavenging and antioxidant activities. These bioactive properties were retained when betaxanthin was encapsulated in maltodextrin by using an appropriate spray-drying procedure. Pigment stability was followed by HPLC and it was highly promoted by encapsulation up to six months� storage.
Juana Cabanes Cos was trained as a Biochemist at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of the University of Murcia, Spain. She has obtained her PhD in 1986 and since then she has been working in Plant Biochemistry and has publications in national and international journals. Currently, her research project combines different approaches and multiple techniques to study the functional capacity of a family of bioactive plant compounds; the betalains.
Email: jcabanes@um.es