Fração Proteica da polpa de fruta-pão de massa (Artocarpus altilis): caracterização bioquímica e farmacológica

Abstract

Many health benefits have been attributed to some food-derivatives resulting in a new research field, functional foods, and nutraceuticals that the interest has been growing over the years. Food-derivatives are economical and safe alternatives to new medicines. Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) is an Asian plant with considerable economic and food importance, widely used in folk medicine. Breadfruit fruit has a great nutritional value and is rich in protein and essential amino acids. In Brazil, however, the fruit is neglected and underutilized. The aim of this study was to establish the nutraceutical potential of the protein fraction from breadfruit pulp (PFBp). PFBp extract was characterized using Fourier transform infrared, electrophoresis, zymogram, thin layer chromatography, mass spectrometry proteomics, among other resources. PFBp was evaluated using several biological assays, mainly anxiety models in zebrafish and its safety was assessed in vitro and in vivo. The analysis showed that PFBp is rich in essential amino acids (49.59 g/100 g), predominantly lysine, leucine, phenylalanine, and threonine. The electrophoresis of PFBp exhibited three main proteins with a molecular mass between 20 and 30 kDa and the zymogram indicates the presence of proteases, including cysteine proteases. The proteomic analysis of PFBp revealed, for the first time, the presence of lectins in the breadfruit pulp, mainly of the jacalin-like type. Biological assays have shown that PFBp is non-cytotoxic to HEK-293 and CCD 1059SK human normal cell lines, and HL-60, MDA-MB-235 e PC-3 human cancer cell lines. PFBp does not have activity against micro-organisms Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and pathogen strains of Candida albicans. PFBp is not cytotoxic, has metal-chelating antioxidant action and induces anxiolysis in zebrafish. It was possible to verify that the anxiolytic action produced by PFBp occurs via the serotonergic system involving 5-HTR1A, 5-HTR2C, and 5-HTR3 receptors. Therefore, this study highlights PFBp as a potential nutraceutical agent because is safe, has nutritional quality as a source of essential amino acids, antioxidant properties that may prevent some diseases, and anxiolytic action which may be a natural alternative against anxiety improving mental health.