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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
The consumption of red berries has increased considerably in recent years. The fruits
of Lycium barbarum L., traditionally known as goji are associated with health benefits
in the liver, kidney, vision, and immune functions, but also in the circulatory system
and longevity [1].
In the present study, the fruits and stems of L. barbarum were characterized for their
nutritional profile (AOAC procedures), free sugars (HPLC-RI), fatty acids (GC-FID),
organic acids (UFLC-PDA), tocopherols (HPLC-FP) and phenolic compounds (LCDAD-
ESI/MS).
Carbohydrates were the most abundant macronutrient found in fruits and stems (87
and 78.1 g/100 g dw, respectively). The stems also presented the highest levels of ash,
protein and fat (9.9, 7.4 and 4.6 g/100 g dw, respectively), while the fruits had protein
as the second main macronutrient (5.3 g/100 g dw), followed by fat and ash (4.1 and
3.21 g/100 g dry weight, respectively).
Glucose was the most abundant sugar found in both samples, followed by fructose and
sucrose. As expected, the fruits had higher content in sugars (27.9 g/100 g dw) than the
stems (1.08 g/100 g dw).
Regarding organic acids, the samples showed different profiles, while fruits revealed
citric, succinic and oxalic acids (1.29, 0.77 and 0.010 g/100 g dw, respectively) as the
main compounds, malic, oxalic and quinic acids (0.899, 0.65 and 0.53 g/100 g dw,
respectively) were the major ones found in stems. Oxalic acid was the only common
organic acid found in both samples.
Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) predominated in the fruit samples due to the
presence of high levels of linoleic acid (53.4%), while in the stems saturated fatty acids
(SFA) predominated with very similar percentages of palmitic (15.94%) and lignoceric
(15.3%) acids.
The highest tocopherols content was determined in the stems (3.59 mg/100 g dw),
mainly due to the presence of α-tocopherol (3.37 mg/100g dw).
Sixteen phenolic compounds were identified in goji fruits, while eleven compounds
were detected in the stems. Quercetin-3-O-rutinoside was the major phenolic
compound in stems (48 mg/g dw) and fruits (16.6 mg/g dw), followed in these latter
case by p-coumaric acid (12.3 mg/g extract).
This study demonstrates the high potential of goji stems and fruits as sources of bioactive
compounds, which could be used in nutritional formulations, or incorporated into
foods with functional properties.
Description
Keywords
Lycium barbarum L. Nutritional characterization
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Pires, Tânia C.S.P.; Dias, Maria Inês; Barros, Lillian; Santos-Buelga, Celestino; Ferreira, Isabel C.F.R. (2018). Nutritional and chemical characterization of fruits and stems of Lycium barb arum L. In XXIV Encontro Luso Galego de Química. Porto. ISBN 978-989-8124-24-1