6533b82dfe1ef96bd1291ef5

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Evaluation of antioxidant properties and assessment of genetic diversity of Capparis spinosa cultivated in Pantelleria Island.

subject

description

Capparis spinosa is a wild and cultivated bush, which grows mainly in the Mediterranean Basin. Unopened flower buds, called capers are used in the Mediterranean cuisine as flavoring for meat, vegetable and other foods. Several studies evaluated bioactive component and antioxidant activity of Capparis spinosa, increasing the market demand and the economic importance of capers.The aim of this work was to evaluate the contents of bioactive compounds in floral buds fermented in salt of C. spinosa collected from different areas of Pantelleria Island (Italy), testing the effect on healthy function as total antioxidant compounds. Hydrophilic extracts of C. spinosa from Pantelleria Island were characterized by high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization/mass spectrometry. Among 24 compounds were detected and quantified by HPLC-MS technique: several Kaempherol and Quercetin derivate were characterized, based on UV spectra and MSn fragmentation pattern. The antioxidative activity of caper hydrophilic extracts was assessed in a number of chemical assays (ORAC, DPPH and ABTS). In order to determine the genetic diversity within and among populations of Capparis spinosa from Pantelleria Island, AFLPs (Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism) markers were employed.Moreover, in the present study, a commercial model of an Electronic Nose (EN), EOS835 (Sacmi), was preliminarily used to investigate the flavor profile of capers. The EN technique was comparated with a classical techniques gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis, using Head Space Solid-Phase Microextraction (HS-SPME) as a solvent-free sample preparation method.