Abstract

QUINTERO-HILARIO, Cris del Carmen et al. Effect of roasting on the nutritional value and antioxidant components of Maya nut (Brosimum alicastrum: Moraceae). Rev. Chapingo Ser.Hortic [online]. 2019, vol.25, n.3, pp.199-212.  Epub May 29, 2020. ISSN 2007-4034.  https://doi.org/10.5154/r.rchsh.2019.03.007.

The study of foods with antioxidant properties has increased considerably in recent years due to the interest in nutraceutical compounds and their contributions to health. However, there are some seeds with antioxidant components that remain underutilized or unused, such as the Maya nut, the seed of Brosimum alicastrum Swartz (family Moraceae), which was consumed by the ancient Maya and other Mesoamerican peoples. The Maya nut is known in the region today as capomo, nuez de maya, mojo or ramón. The objective of this research was to evaluate the contents of minerals, nutritional compounds and antioxidants in fresh Maya nuts and with two roasting treatments (medium and high roasting at 90 °C for 20 and 35 min, respectively). In general, roasting did not affect the nutritional quality of the seeds, although the concentration of lipids and flavonoids decreased significantly (P ≤ 0.05). Roasting significantly increased (P ≤ 0.05) the content of condensed tannins (365.09 and 1,874.79 mg catechin equivalent∙100 g-1 of fresh and highly-roasted seeds, respectively) and soluble phenolic compounds (271.58 and 1,337.19 mg gallic acid equivalent∙100 g-1 of fresh and highly-roasted seeds, respectively). Also, metabolites significantly correlated with the observed antioxidant activity (Pearson’s correlation). Maya nuts could be considered a functional food due to their nutritional quality and high content of antioxidant components.

Keywords : antioxidant activity; flavonoids; tannins; phenolic compounds; minerals.