Molecular Characterization, Antioxidant and Protein Solubility-Related Properties of Polyphenolic Compounds from Walnut (Juglans regia)

Aqueous ethanol extraction of partially defatted walnut flours provides a simple and reliable method to obtain extracts with high content of polyphenolic compounds. These were characterized by means of HPLC-ESI-MS/MS analytical techniques and molecular parameters. Considering the whole set of polyphenolic compounds identified, a high average number of phenolic-OH groups was found. Although these represent potential hydrogen-atom transfer sites, which are associated with high free-radical scavenging capacity, results show that such a property could be strongly limited by the low lipophilicity of polyphenols affecting the accessibility of these molecules to lipid substrates. Variations in pH values were found to change the ionization behavior of phenolic compounds. These changes, however, had minor effects on walnut protein solubility-related properties. The results obtained in this study highlight the importance of molecular characterization of walnut phenolic compounds in order to assess better their bioactive properties.