Non-conventional food plants (NCFPs) are resilient, adaptable species with nutritional qualities. Brazil has the world's greatest biodiversity in these species. Despite evidence of their potential for sustainable nutrition, there are few related studies. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the antioxidant capacity, total polyphenol content, main compounds, and in vivo toxicity of ten NCFPs from southern Brazil. The results showed that the NCFP extracts presented considerable variability in antioxidant activity. Notably, ABTS scavenging ranged from 21.70% ± 0.84% to 99.54% ± 0.01%, whereas DPPH values ranged from 56.88 ± 2.32% to 95.10 ± 1.09%. Total phenolic content varied between 24.43 ± 1.35 and 260.38 ± 12.92 mg GAE g- 1. HPLC-UV analysis identified gallic acid as the main phenolic compound. Epicatechin, rutin, naringin, and hesperidin were also identified. All extracts showed no toxicity in the A. salina assay at concentrations up to 5000 µg/mL after 24 h of exposure. The results of this study highlight the high antioxidant activity and the presence of essential phenolic compounds in NCFP, highlighting its potential health benefits as protective agents against oxidative damage, as well as its social and economic relevance.
Minello et al. (Wed,) studied this question.