Neuroprotective potential of the Amazonian fruits Euterpe oleracea Mart. and Paullinia cupana Kunth

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the elderly population (> 60 years old) will increase from 12% in 2015 to 22% in 2050 and projections indicate that in 2030 there will be 1.4 billion people aged 60 years and over. This increment in the populational age represents not only a social demographic problem but also a medical one (Rudnicka et al., 2020). Aging is one of the main risk factors for several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s diseases (AD, PD, and HD, respectively) (Kritsilis et al., 2018). AD affects approximately 55 million people worldwide and is more frequent between 75 and 84 years old (Alzheimer’s Association, 2021; WHO, 2022), whereas PD is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disease affecting 2-3% of the population over 65 years old (Poewe et al., 2017). Moreover, HD, which affects 5 to 7 individuals per 100,000 inhabitants aged between 30 and 50 years (Bruzelius et al., 2019), is also an important neuropathology (Shawki et al., 2021). In a simplified way, AD, PD, and HD mainly impair neuronal structures and functions in part due to the aberrant accumulation of certain aggregated proteins: amyloid-beta (Aβ) in AD, α-synuclein in PD (Kulenkampff et al., 2021;Shawki et al., 2021), and huntingtin (HTT) in Neuroprotective potential of the Amazonian fruits Euterpe oleracea Mart. and Paullinia cupana Kunth