Determinación de componentes fenólicos y antioxidantes en harina de camote morado (Ipomeas batatas) y mashua (Tropaeolum tuberosum)

Abstract

The lack of awareness about the consumption of functional and nutritious foods has generated multiple problems in health, being considered a negative factor that has been increasing over the years. For this reason and with the purpose of providing a contribution to society around health and human nutrition, this research project aimed to provide relevant information on the Andean crops of Ecuador, such as sweet potato and mashua, toexpose its composition in terms of its phenolic content and antioxidant capacity. This information can be exploited in a way that supports the development of nutritional foods that allow achieving a better quality of life by reducing nutritional health problems. First, the HPLCUV Visibletechnique was performed on flour samples for the identification of phenolic compounds using gallic acid as standard, determining compounds such as p-coumaric acid, cyanidin, caffeic acid and derivatives, tyrosol glycoside and catechin. The antioxidant capacity was determined by the DPPH technique, obtaining a percentage of 60.976 percent for sweet potato and 69.974 percent for mashua, which are considered significant, finding the mashua flour with a higher antioxidant capacity.