The powerful in vitro bioactivity of Euterpe oleracea Mart. seeds and related phenolic compounds

The Euterpe oleracea Mart. (acai) is a plant from the Amazon region, classified as "super fruit" because of its various functional properties. However, limited investigation has been performed on gal by-products, such as seeds. Therefore, the aim of this work was to characterized the phenolic compounds of the aqueous extract of gal seeds and further evaluate its bioactivity (antioxidant and cytotoxic activities). Only proanthocyanidins were detected, being a B-type (epi) catechin tetramer the most abundant; however, procyanidin trimmers were the most predominant form. Apt seeds extract revealed a high antioxidant (EC50 ranging from 3.6 to 19.4 mu g/mL) and cytotoxic activity, being more effective in the cervical carcinoma cell line (HeLa; GI(50) =18 mu g/mL); it did not show toxicity for non-tumor cells. Acai seeds are considered a waste and could have an added economic benefit, through the extraction of natural antioxidants, particularly proanthocyanidins, that could find applications in food and pharmaceutical industries. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.