Antioxidant capacity and heat damage of powder products from South American plants with functional properties

Aim of the study was to evaluate color, total polyphenol content (TPC), antioxidant capacity (ABTS, FRAP,  DPPH), reducing sugars and heat damage (furosine, hydroxymethylfurfural, glucosylisomaltol) of 21 commercial powder products obtained from South-American fruits (mesquite, lucuma, camu camu), seeds (amaranth, purple maize), roots and tubers (yacon, maca, mashua, tocosh),  bark  (cat’s claw) and leaves (graviola). TPC and antioxidant capacity were maximum in camu camu and cat’s claw powders, and minimum in tocosh, amaranth, lucuma and maca; graviola, mashua, purple maize and mesquite also showed good antioxidant properties. Yacon, mashua and lucuma powders had high reducing sugars content (40.9, 34.4 and 21.2 g/100 g DM, respectively) and heat damage (HMF 146.6 mg/kg, furosine 2399.8 and 2228.4 mg/100 g protein, respectively). Overall, camu camu powders and cat’s claw were the most interesting products, having high levels of total polyphenols and antioxidant capacity together with very low heat damage.