Peruvian corn biodiversity is one of the highest in the world and may represent an important natural source of health relevant phenolic bioactive compounds whose potential needs to be investigated. This study investigated twenty-two Peruvian corn samples corresponding to five corn races (Arequipen ˜o, Cabanita, Kculli, Granada and Coruca) in relation to their total phenolic contents (TPC), anthocyanin contents, Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) phenolic profiles and antioxidant capacity (ABTS and ORAC methods). Subsequently using both free and cell-wall bound phenolic fractions their health relevance targeting hyperglycemia (a-glucosidase and a-amylase inhibition) and obesity (lipase inhibition) potentials was evaluated using in vitro assay models. Antioxidant capacity and TPC were high in bound fractions from yellow-colored races in contrast to the purple-colored race (Kculli) which had high TPC (mainly anthocyanins) and antioxidant capacity in the free form. The major phenolic acids detected by UPLC were ferulic and p-coumaric acids. High a-glucosidase (32.5-76.1%, 25 mg sample dose) and moderate a-amylase inhibitory activities (13.6-29.0%, 250 mg sample dose) were found in all free fractions, but only samples from the Kculli race had lipase inhibitory activity (58.45-92.16%, 12.5 mg sample dose). Principal component analysis revealed that the variability of data was affected by the race and the a-glucosidase and lipase inhibitory activities positively correlated with anthocyanins and antioxidant capacity. Some accessions of Kculli, Granada and Cabanita races are promising for future breeding strategies focused on the development of improved corn varieties targeted for the design of functional foods relevant for hyperglycemia and obesity prevention.

BACKGROUND: The consumption of fruits, mainly berries, has been associated with beneficial health properties. These properties would be related to the quantity and quality of the metabolites present. Some native berries from the Andes, such as Andean elderberry, would be an important source of metabolites with bioactive properties. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate at the physico-chemical and metabolomic level the characteristics of the elderberry from four different high Andean regions, and to determine their bioactive potential through in vitro tests. RESULTS: Significant differences were found in the evaluated characteristics according to the Region of procedence of the fruit. Glucose was the main sugar for all berry samples, followed by fructose. Among the most important organic acids, citric and malic acid were found. Elderberry from Apurímac presented the highest content of total sugars and lower content of total acids in comparison to the samples from other procedences. UPLC-PDA results indicate that Junín elderberries presented the highest value of total phenolic compounds with high contents of flavonols, hydroxycinnamic acids and anthocyanins. Andean elderberry presented cyanidin 3-O-glucoside and cyanidin 3-O-sambubioside as main anthocyanins as well as their respective isomers. All samples showed inhibition activities against the different evaluated enzymes. Elderberries from Apurímac and Junín, displayed the lowest values of IC50 for the inhibition of α-amylase and α-glucosidase, while for the inhibition of lipase and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE-I) elderberries from Junín displayed the lowest IC50 values. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that Andean elderberry could be considered as an important source of bioactive compounds with properties that could be highlighted by the nutraceutical and functional food industries.

This work aimed evaluating some physicochemical compounds, hydrophilic (H-AC) and lipophilic (L-AC) antioxidant capacity of eleven avocado genotypes grown in the Andes. The results show great variability in physical and chemical properties, dry matter (DM) and lipid contents with ranges of 18.4-39.3% and 10.1-23.2%, respectively. All genotypes had high oleic acid content (50.4-69.9%) and a high unsaturated fatty acid/saturated fatty acid ratio (UFA/SFA, from 3.05 to 6.05), while the unsaponifiable fraction contained mainly b-sitosterol (140.83-235.51 mg/100 g DM) and a-tocopherol (17.44-71.29 µg/g DM). Total phenolic compounds (TPC), H-AC and L-AC ranged from 0.48 to 0.88 mg EAG/g DM, 5.37 to 14.00 and 1.87 to 6.71 lmol ET/g DM, respectively. Although the genotype influences avocado characteristics, climatic conditions in the Andean region seem to be important for the biosynthesis of metabolites of interest and should be considered in future studies.

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