Contribution of Major Hydrophilic and Lipophilic Antioxidants from Papaya Fruit to Total Antioxidant Capacity

Abstract

Several studies have shown that phenolic and carotenoid compounds protect against oxidative stress, reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases and some types of cancers. The objective of this research was to determine the individual contribution of the main phenolic compounds from the papaya fruit skin and the individual contribution of main caro-tenoids from the pulp for total antioxidant capacity at four ripening stages; and the individual and combined radical scavenging ability used the essays DPPH (radical 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picryhydrazyl) and ABTS (radical 2, 20-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline)-6 sulphonic acid). Phenolic acids standards for this study were ferulic (FA), caffeic (CA) and p-coumaric (pCA) acids and carotenoids studied were Lycopene, β-carotene and β-cryptoxanthin. The phenol that showed the best DPPH • and ABTS • + radical scavenging ability was CA, with 89.47% and 92.98%, respectively. Lyco-pene contributed the greatest to the TAC (11.9-43.2). Lycopene also showed the best DPPH • and ABTS • + radical scavenging ability with 62.12% and 94.26%, respectively. Antiradical ability of phenolics and carotenoids depended on the structure of the compound and its concentration.