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Stability of Carotenoids, Total Phenolics and In Vitro Antioxidant Capacity in the Thermal Processing of Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas Lam.) Cultivars Grown in Brazil

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Abstract

Intervention strategies regarding the biofortification of orange-fleshed sweet potato, which is a rich source of carotenoids for combating vitamin A deficiency, are being developed in Brazil. This study was conducted to evaluate the concentrations of individual carotenoids, total phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity in the roots of four biofortified sweet potato cultivars that were raw or processed by four common heat treatments. HPLC, Folin-Ciocalteu, DPPH and ABTS assays were used. All cultivars showed high levels of carotenoids in raw roots, predominantly all-trans-β-carotene (79.1–128.5 mg.100 g−1 DW), suggesting a high estimated vitamin A activity. The CNPH 1194 cultivar reported carotenoids values highest than those of other cultivars (p < 0.05). The total phenolic compounds varied among cultivars and heat treatments (0.96–2.05 mg.g−1 DW). In most cases, the heat treatments resulted in a significant decrease in the carotenoids and phenolic compounds contents as well as antioxidant capacity. Processing of flour presented the greatest losses of major carotenoids and phenolics. The phenolic compounds showed more stability than carotenoids after processing. There were significant correlations between the carotenoids and phenolic compounds and the antioxidant capacity.

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Abbreviations

ABTS:

2,2′-azinobis(3-ethyl-benzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)

DPPH:

2,2-diphenyl-1-picrazylhydrazyl

EMBRAPA:

Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation

HPLC:

high performance liquid chromatography

MTBE:

tert-methyl-butyl-ether

OFSP:

orange-fleshed sweet potato

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) and the Fundação de Estudos Agrários “Luiz de Queiroz” (FEALQ) for the graduate scholarship for the first author. The authors also thank EMBRAPA, especially Dr. Werito Melo, for donating the sweet potato cultivars used in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Agroindústria, Alimentos e Nutrição, Escola Superior de Agricultura “Luiz de Queiroz”, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Pádua Dias, 11, CEP 13418-900, Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil

    Carlos M. Donado-Pestana, Jocelem Mastrodi Salgado & Priscila Robertina dos Santos

  2. Instituto de Ciência e Tecnologia de Alimentos, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Alessandro de Oliveira Rios

  3. Departamento de Engenharia de Minas, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    André Jablonski

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  1. Carlos M. Donado-Pestana
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  2. Jocelem Mastrodi Salgado
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  3. Alessandro de Oliveira Rios
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Correspondence to Jocelem Mastrodi Salgado.

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Donado-Pestana, C.M., Salgado, J.M., de Oliveira Rios, A. et al. Stability of Carotenoids, Total Phenolics and In Vitro Antioxidant Capacity in the Thermal Processing of Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas Lam.) Cultivars Grown in Brazil. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 67, 262–270 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-012-0298-9

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