Nutritional properties of selected superfood extracts and their potential health benefits

Background The term ‘superfoods’ is used to market foods considered to have significant health benefits. ‘Superfoods’ are claimed to prevent diseases as well as improving overall health, though the lack of explicit criteria means that any food can be labelled ‘super’ without support from scientific...

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Autores principales: Jacqueline P. Barsby, James M. Cowley, Shalem Y. Leemaqz, Jessica A. Grieger, Daniel R. McKeating, Anthony V. Perkins, Susan E. P. Bastian, Rachel A. Burton, Tina Bianco-Miotto
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Publicado: PeerJ Inc. 2021
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/1feb89182a9e43b6992174d3d23bfca4
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:1feb89182a9e43b6992174d3d23bfca42021-11-28T15:05:18ZNutritional properties of selected superfood extracts and their potential health benefits10.7717/peerj.125252167-8359https://doaj.org/article/1feb89182a9e43b6992174d3d23bfca42021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://peerj.com/articles/12525.pdfhttps://peerj.com/articles/12525/https://doaj.org/toc/2167-8359Background The term ‘superfoods’ is used to market foods considered to have significant health benefits. ‘Superfoods’ are claimed to prevent diseases as well as improving overall health, though the lack of explicit criteria means that any food can be labelled ‘super’ without support from scientific research. Typically, these ‘superfoods’ are rich in a particular nutrient for example antioxidants or omega-3 fatty acids. The objective of this study was to investigate the nutritional properties of a selection of superfood seeds: flax, chia, hulled sunflower and two types of processed hemp seeds and determine whether they may have potential health benefits. Methods We developed a simple aqueous extraction method for ground seeds and analysed their composition by mineral, protein and monosaccharide analyses. Cell viability assays were performed on Caco-2 and IEC-6 intestinal epithelial cells using increasing doses of the prepared extracts. Results Increased cell viability was observed in both cell lines with increasing concentrations of the flax seed, chia seed or hulled sunflower extracts (P < 0.05). Compositional analyses revealed the presence of polysaccharides, proteins and essential minerals in the aqueous extracts and in vitro assays showed sunflower had the highest antioxidant activity. However, differences in extract composition and antioxidant properties could not be directly related to the observed increase in cell viability suggesting that other components in the extracts may be responsible. Future studies will further characterize these extracts and investigate whether they are beneficial for gastrointestinal health.Jacqueline P. BarsbyJames M. CowleyShalem Y. LeemaqzJessica A. GriegerDaniel R. McKeatingAnthony V. PerkinsSusan E. P. BastianRachel A. BurtonTina Bianco-MiottoPeerJ Inc.articleFlaxChiaHempSunflowerSuperfoodsMedicineRENPeerJ, Vol 9, p e12525 (2021)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Flax
Chia
Hemp
Sunflower
Superfoods
Medicine
R
spellingShingle Flax
Chia
Hemp
Sunflower
Superfoods
Medicine
R
Jacqueline P. Barsby
James M. Cowley
Shalem Y. Leemaqz
Jessica A. Grieger
Daniel R. McKeating
Anthony V. Perkins
Susan E. P. Bastian
Rachel A. Burton
Tina Bianco-Miotto
Nutritional properties of selected superfood extracts and their potential health benefits
description Background The term ‘superfoods’ is used to market foods considered to have significant health benefits. ‘Superfoods’ are claimed to prevent diseases as well as improving overall health, though the lack of explicit criteria means that any food can be labelled ‘super’ without support from scientific research. Typically, these ‘superfoods’ are rich in a particular nutrient for example antioxidants or omega-3 fatty acids. The objective of this study was to investigate the nutritional properties of a selection of superfood seeds: flax, chia, hulled sunflower and two types of processed hemp seeds and determine whether they may have potential health benefits. Methods We developed a simple aqueous extraction method for ground seeds and analysed their composition by mineral, protein and monosaccharide analyses. Cell viability assays were performed on Caco-2 and IEC-6 intestinal epithelial cells using increasing doses of the prepared extracts. Results Increased cell viability was observed in both cell lines with increasing concentrations of the flax seed, chia seed or hulled sunflower extracts (P < 0.05). Compositional analyses revealed the presence of polysaccharides, proteins and essential minerals in the aqueous extracts and in vitro assays showed sunflower had the highest antioxidant activity. However, differences in extract composition and antioxidant properties could not be directly related to the observed increase in cell viability suggesting that other components in the extracts may be responsible. Future studies will further characterize these extracts and investigate whether they are beneficial for gastrointestinal health.
format article
author Jacqueline P. Barsby
James M. Cowley
Shalem Y. Leemaqz
Jessica A. Grieger
Daniel R. McKeating
Anthony V. Perkins
Susan E. P. Bastian
Rachel A. Burton
Tina Bianco-Miotto
author_facet Jacqueline P. Barsby
James M. Cowley
Shalem Y. Leemaqz
Jessica A. Grieger
Daniel R. McKeating
Anthony V. Perkins
Susan E. P. Bastian
Rachel A. Burton
Tina Bianco-Miotto
author_sort Jacqueline P. Barsby
title Nutritional properties of selected superfood extracts and their potential health benefits
title_short Nutritional properties of selected superfood extracts and their potential health benefits
title_full Nutritional properties of selected superfood extracts and their potential health benefits
title_fullStr Nutritional properties of selected superfood extracts and their potential health benefits
title_full_unstemmed Nutritional properties of selected superfood extracts and their potential health benefits
title_sort nutritional properties of selected superfood extracts and their potential health benefits
publisher PeerJ Inc.
publishDate 2021
url https://doaj.org/article/1feb89182a9e43b6992174d3d23bfca4
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