Provenance effect on bioactive phytochemicals and nutritional and health benefits of the desert date Balanites aegyptiaca

Abstract

Balanites aegyptiaca L. is a multipurpose tree distributed in Africa and Middle East. Several parts of B. aegyptiaca have been suggested to have medicinal uses. So far the effect of ecological origin on the nutritional values and biological activities of B. aegyptiaca genotypes is rarely investigated. Further, metabolic profiling and assessment of the functional food value of B. aegyptiaca leaves are far from complete. In this study, biological activities and profiling of primary and secondary metabolites were investigated in the leaves of five B. aegyptiaca provenances collected from Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. Interestingly, all provenances showed notable antidiabetic, antioxidant, antiprotozoal, antibacterial, antifungal, and anticancer activities. Hierarchical clustering analysis revealed significant variability in the concentrations of individual sugars, organic acids, amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, phenolics, and minerals among the provenances and these variations were provenance dependent. Medina provenance showed the heights diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging and antifungal activities and was the most powerful against embryonic kidney adenocarcinoma and urinary bladder carcinoma cells. The highest inhibition against Escherichia coli and colon carcinoma cells was observed by Sudan and Cairo provenances. El‐Kharga and Yemen provenances showed the greatest activity against Trypanosoma cruzi and hepatocellular and urinary bladder carcinoma. Therefore, leaves of B. aegyptiaca possess good nutritive and biological capacities and might have potential applications in the food and medical industries. However, the strength of such activities is significantly affected by the provenance. Practical applications According to the national Research Council (NRC) of United States, Balanites aegyptiaca L. is recognized among the 24 priority lost crops of Africa. B. aegyptiaca leaves contain considerable amounts of primary metabolites (e.g., sugars, EAAs, USFAs) and secondary (e.g., phenolic acids and flavonoids) metabolites, vitamins, and macro and microelements. The obvious existence of these nutritionally and medicinally related compounds supports the functional food value of B. aegyptiaca leaves. Moreover, the present results revealed that B. aegyptiaca is not only a foliage dietary plant, but also could be considered as a valuable source for neutraceuticals, which support its pharmacological value. So far, this is the first report to explore, in detail, the functional food value of B. aegyptiaca leaves by presenting a clear image about its metabolic profiling and biological activities, and how the provenance factor could affect these values.

Phytochemicals and Biological Activity of Desert Date (Balanites aegyptiaca (L.) Delile)

“…Leaves are a good source of carbohydrates (28.12%) and proteins (15.86%) and contain ash (9.26%) and dietary fiber (30.75%; Table 1) [12]. Leaves also provide minerals (Table 1), fatty acids (Table 2), amino acids (Table 3) and vitamins (Table 3) [12,13]. Leaves contain antinutrients in meager concentrations (Table 4).…”

Drumstick (Moringa oleifera) variation in biomass and total flavonoid content in Indonesia

“…Panwar and Mathur (2019) also reported that 57 accessions of drumsticks from various regions in India contained highly variable routine flavonoids ranging from close to 0 mg kg -1 dry weight (undetectable) to 60 mg kg -1 dry weight. Different flavonoid content due to genotype differences has also been reported in other plants, such as Cyclocarya paliurus (Fang et al 2011), Chinese Dwarf Cherry (Wang et al 2018), Balanites aegyptiaca (Khamis et al 2020), and Cleome gynandra (Somers et al 2020). Apart from Sumatra, there were several accessions with relatively high levels of flavonoids content that have the potential for genetic improvement in the future, namely Kalimantan, Papua, and Sumba.…”

Phytochemical Analysis of the Desert Date Balanites aegyptiaca

“…It was reported that B. aegyptiaca different parts have many bioactive metabolites such as saponins, terpenoids, alkaloids, flavonoids and steroids which have significant roles in the potentiality of B. aegyptiaca as traditional medicine as antimicrobial, antidiabetic, antiviral, antihelminthic, anticancer agent (Al-Thobaiti & Abu Zeid, 2018). In a recent study, the metabolomic profiling of B. aegyptiaca leaves showed high contents of bioactive secondary metabolites which was positively reflected in the antioxidant, antimicrobial and anticancer activity of their extracts (Khamis et al, 2020). Flowers of B. aegyptiaca showed high content flavonoids and phenolics which affect positively the antioxidant activity of flower extracts (Amadou et al, 2019).…”

“…The effect of ecological origin and provenance on the primary and secondary metabolites distribution in leaves of B. aegyptiaca was assessed. Provenance had affected the nutritional values, metabolomic composition and antioxidant activity of the evaluated leaves (Khamis et al, 2020). Oil, protein and some minerals were evaluated in B. aegyptiaca kernel (Elfeel, 2010) showing variation among different trees and different locations in the content of the previously mentioned parameters.…”