Sarcocornia neei is a halophyte that grows on the coast of the Valparaiso Region of Chile. Studies related to its nutritional and functional value under wild and cultivated conditions are not available. Thus, in this study, a nutritional (complete proximal, mineral and dietary fiber analysis) and functional characterization (total phenolics, β-carotene, hydrophilic and lipophilic antioxidant activity (HAA and LAA) and ascorbic acid) were performed for wild and cultivated plants. Wild plants displayed higher amounts of compounds involved in stress defense mechanisms such as total phenolics, proteins, dietary fiber and ash. The mineral analysis revealed that Na + and Cl -are the main ions accumulated in wild and cultivated Sarcocornia neei that are present in significantly higher amounts in the cultivated plants. The functional characterization revealed higher amounts of dietary fiber, total phenolics and HAA in wild plants than in cultivated plants. Similar contents of β-carotene, LAA and ascorbic acid were found for wild and cultivated plants. The results from this study provide information on the potential of Sarcocornia neei to be consumed as a leafy green vegetable with important amounts of main nutrients and functional metabolites.

The loquat cultivar Golden Nugget (leaves, flowers and fruits), which has potential commercial importance in Chile, was analyzed for targeted bioactive composition (total phenolic contents: TPC, phenolic profiles and triterpenic acids) and in vitro bioactivity such as antioxidant capacity (AC) and inhibitory activity against enzymes relevant for hyperglycemia (α-amylase and α-glucosidase) and hypertension (angiotensin I-converting enzyme, ACE-I) management. Leaves and flowers had higher TPC and AC than fruits and hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives were found in all structures by HPLC. Chlorogenic acid and quercetin derivatives were detected only in leaves and flowers, which also inhibited the α-amylase and α-glucosidase enzymes, but flowers showed the highest anti-hyperglycemia activity. No inhibition of ACE-I and hyperglycemiarelevant enzymes were found in loquat fruits; additionally, TPC and AC were high at the green stage. Loquat leaves and flowers are sources of phenolic bioactives with potential for diet-based hyperglycemia management. No triterpenic acids were found in any of the loquat parts.

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Cherimoya (Annona cherimola Mill.) is a subtropical fruit characterized by a significant increase in organic acid levels during ripening, making it an interesting model for studying the relationship between acidity and fruit flavor. In this work, we focused on understanding the balance between the concentration of organic acids and the gene expression and activity of enzymes involved in the synthesis and degradation of these metabolites during the development and ripening of cherimoya cv. "Concha Lisa". Our results showed an early accumulation of citric acid and other changes associated with the accumulation of transcripts encoding citrate catabolism enzymes. During ripening, a 2-fold increase in malic acid and a 6-fold increase in citric acid were detected. By comparing the contents of these compounds with gene expression and enzymatic activity levels, we determined that cytoplasmic NAD-dependent malate dehydrogenase (cyNAD-MDH) and mitochondrial citrate synthase (mCS) play important regulatory roles in the malic and citric acid biosynthetic pathways.

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