Study of medicinal and food plants as a source of biologically active compounds.

In the last few decades, scientific evidence has pointed out the health-beneficial effects of phenolic compounds in foods, including a decrease in risk of developing degenerative and chronic diseases, known to be caused by oxidative stress. In this frame can be inserted research carried out during my PhD thesis, which concerns the phytochemical investigation of phenolic composition in sweet cherries (Prunus avium L.), apple fruits (Malus domestica L.) and quinoa seeds (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.). The first project was focused on the investigation of phytochemical profile and nutraceutical value of fruits of new sweet cherry cultivars. Their phenolic profile and antioxidant activity were investigated and compared with those of commonly commercialized cultivars. Their nutraceutical value was evaluated in terms of antioxidant/neuroprotective capacity in neuron-like SH-SY5Y cells, in order to investigate their ability to counteract the oxidative stress and/or neurodegeneration process The second project was focused on phytochemical analysis of phenolic compounds in apples of ancient cultivars with the aim of selecting the most diverse cultivars, that will then be assayed for their anti-carcinogenic and anti-proliferative activities against the hepato-biliary and pancreatic tumours. The third project was focused on the analysis of polyphenolic pattern of seeds of two quinoa varieties grown at different latitudes. Analysis of phenolic profile and in vitro antioxidant activity of seed extracts both in their free and soluble-conjugated forms, showed that the accumulation of some classes of flavonoids is strictly regulated by environmental factors, even though the overall antioxidant capacity does not differ in quinoa Regalona grown in Chile and Italy. During the internship period carried out at the Department of Organic Chemistry at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), it was achieved the isolation of two pentacyclic triterpenoids, from an endemic Peruvian plant, Jatropha macrantha Müll. Arg., with bio-guided fractionation technique.