Antioxidant potencial in subpopulations of <i>Tacinga inamoena</i>

Abstract

The objective of this work was to determine the contents of bioactive compounds in Tacinga inamoena fruits from different subpopulations, as well as to evaluate the genetic diversity among and within these subpopulations based on these contents. The fruits were collected from ten plants from each of the following municipalities: Assú, Apodi, and Parelhas, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. The fruits were analyzed for the contents of vitamin C, carotenoids, betacyanin, betaxanthin, flavonoids, total exctratable polyphenols, and antioxidant activity by the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2-azino-bis 3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) methods. The fruits from Parelhas showed the highest content averages, which did not differ significantly from those obtained for total exctratable polyphenols in Assú and for vitamin C and antioxidant activity by DPPH in Apodi. The fruits from Apodi and Assú did not differ for carotenoids, betacyanin, betaxanthin, and antioxidant activity by ABTS. Using the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic mean, the three subpopulations were arranged into the following two clusters: Parelhas; and Assú and Apodi. Among subpopulations, total variance was higher for carotenoids, betacyanin, betaxanthin, and DPPH, whereas, among individuals, carotenoids, betacyanin, betaxanthin, and vitamin C were the contents that most contributed to variation. Fruits from T. inamoena are rich in bioactive compounds, and these contents can vary among and within subpopulations from different locations.