Perigonium color and the antioxidant capacity of cañihua (Chenopodium pallidicaule Aellen)

Abstract

Currently, it is necessary to know the content of bioactive compounds, one of them is the antioxidant capacity of food, which has nutritional importance and functional properties, since these components are natural and play an important role in the prevention and treatment of several diseases, including cancer. Therefore, the objective of the investigation was to determine the nutritional quality and the relationship between the color intensity of the perigonium and the antioxidant capacity of the Chenopodium pallidicaule (Ch. pallidicaule). As material of study, we used four accessions of Ch. pallidicaule with perigonia of defined colors such as light yellow, orange, purple and black. We developed the physical-chemical analyzes and the grain functional components in the Agroindustrial Engineering Laboratories of the National University of Altiplano Puno, and in the Laboratory of Chromatography and Spectrometry of the San Antonio de Abad National University of Cusco. The results were submitted to Pearson's correlation analysis, and they show that the flavonoid indices with the perigonium color intensity values express significant positive correlation. In addition, the antioxidant capacity equivalent to Trolox was significantly different between the perigonium color intensities, where the accession with black perigonium turns out to be the one that reached the highest value (5g eq. Trolox/100g sample). We conclude that the color of the perigonium exhibited antioxidant capacity, which kept a direct correlation with the flavonoid content.