Liberación de péptidos con capacidad antioxidante a partir de proteínas de flores de Begonias (Begonia doublet) durante la simulación de la digestión gastroduodenal in vitro

Abstract

Currently, edible flowers are being investigated as an alternative source of protein, since they have benefits in both natural medicine and food, being important for human nutrition. In this investigation, the characterization of proteins from the flower of Begonia x semperflorens-cultorum (Begonia doublet) and the potential evaluation as a source of peptides with antioxidant capacity during in vitro gastroduodenal digestion have been carried out. Protein isolates were obtained from flower flour, using a single pH of solubilization and precipitation, quantifying the protein by the Dumas method and the characterization was performed using the SDS-PAGE technique. In addition, the antioxidant activity was determined by the ABTS method. The protein concentrates were obtained at pH 8 for solubilization and pH 2 for precipitation, reaching a yield of 9.75 percentage and a protein content of 20.3 percentage. In that concentrate, the presence of five proteins with molecular weights between 25.83 and 56.94 kDa was evidenced, identifying protein fractions such as Globulins 7S and Globulins 11S AB. The in vitro gastrointestinal digestion process was evaluated, which allowed evaluating the protein digestibility of the flower. During the gastric phase, pepsin partially hydrolyzed the proteins, while in the duodenal phase, due to the action of pancreatin, the proteins were completely degraded. Finally, the in vitro antioxidant activity was determined, the highest value (1146.09 plus minus 32.11 micro mole Trolox per gram) correspond to the duodenal digest, which shows that the peptides released during this phase are responsible for the biological activity.