Nutritional Composition, Biologically Active Substances and Antioxidant Activity of Selected Edible Wild Plants from Montenegro †
LLC Center for Ecotoxicological Research Podgorica, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
Presented at the 14th European Nutrition Conference FENS 2023, Belgrade, Serbia, 14–17 November 2023.
Proceedings 2023, 91(1), 180; https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2023091180
Published: 1 February 2024
(This article belongs to the Proceedings of The 14th European Nutrition Conference FENS 2023)
Abstract
:The aim of this study was to determine the nutritional composition and biologically active substances (BAS) of wild edible plants from Montenegro. Nettle (Urtica dioica L.) leaves, rosehips (Rosa canina L.), and the fruit of the strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) were investigated regarding several nutrients, major and trace elements, fatty acid composition, amounts of pigments, and total phenols and flavonoids. Antioxidant activity was also determined using three methods (DPPH, FRAP, and ABTS), and the results obtained from all the tests were used to calculate the antioxidant potency composite index (ACI). The results of this study indicate that these plant parts are potential sources of useful nutrients such as macro and micro elements. The majority of fats in all the plant parts consist of unsaturated fatty acids, while saturated fatty acids were represented mainly by palmitic acid. Chlorophyll a and b, zeaxanthin, lutein, and β-carotene were the main pigments in nettle leaves. The pigment profiles of the fruit samples were characterized by the presence of β-carotene, zeaxanthin, and lutein, in addition to pheophytin only in the strawberry tree fruit. The ACI index had a good correlation with the total phenolic and total flavonoid content. All these features reinforce the interest in including these wild edible plants in modern diets as a healthy alternative.
Author Contributions
Conceptualization, D.J. and D.S.; methodology, D.J. and J.R.; software, D.J.; validation, D.S. and J.R.; formal analysis, D.J. and M.N.; investigation, D.J. and D.S.; resources, D.J. and D.S.; data curation, J.R.; writing—original draft preparation, D.J.; writing—review and editing, J.R. and M.N.; visualization, D.J.; supervision, D.S.; project administration, D.S.; funding acquisition, D.S. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding
This research was co-funded by Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation of Montenegro, Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Researches, grant number 01-3661.
Institutional Review Board Statement
Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement
Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement
The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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MDPI and ACS Style
Jancic, D.; Sukovic, D.; Resetar, J.; Nikolic, M. Nutritional Composition, Biologically Active Substances and Antioxidant Activity of Selected Edible Wild Plants from Montenegro. Proceedings 2023, 91, 180. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2023091180
AMA Style
Jancic D, Sukovic D, Resetar J, Nikolic M. Nutritional Composition, Biologically Active Substances and Antioxidant Activity of Selected Edible Wild Plants from Montenegro. Proceedings. 2023; 91(1):180. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2023091180
Chicago/Turabian StyleJancic, Dejan, Danijela Sukovic, Jelena Resetar, and Marko Nikolic. 2023. "Nutritional Composition, Biologically Active Substances and Antioxidant Activity of Selected Edible Wild Plants from Montenegro" Proceedings 91, no. 1: 180. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2023091180
