Evaluation of the Synergistic Potential of Mixtures of Yerba Mate and Cocoa Husk Extracts with Antioxidant Power

GONZALEZ HURTADO ALEJANDRA; DIEGO K. YAMUL; ALBA S. NAVARRO

Congreso; Third International Congress on BBiological and Health Sciences; 2023

Phenolic compounds are a diverse group of natural compounds that exhibit a range of biological activities, including antioxidant, anticancer, antimicrobial, cardioprotective, and modulatory effects on intestinal microbiota. Two sources of polyphenols, yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) and cocoa husk (Theobroma cacao L.), were studied in this research. The objective was to assess the synergy between different combinations of yerba mate aqueous extracts and cocoa husk hydroalcoholic extracts, as well as the effect of lyophilization on the extracts' properties. The study evaluated the total polyphenol content (TPC) using the Folin-Ciocalteu method and antioxidant capacity by measuring the ABTS radical scavenging capacity assay (TEAC). Results indicated that an increase in the concentration of cocoa extract in the fresh extracts resulted in higher antioxidant capacity. The highest value was obtained from the 40:60 mixture of cocoa husk and yerba mate extracts (2203.69 ± 0.99 µmol Trolox®/g dry sample). However, a different trend was observed for lyophilized extract mixtures. The higher the concentration of yerba mate extract, the higher the TEAC value. The 80:20 and 75:25 combinations (1308.35 ± 56.4 and 1298.16 ± 85.7 µmol Trolox®/g dry sample, respectively) showed greater anti-radical effects compared to the other mixtures. These two combinations did not differ significantly in their TEAC values at the significance level (p