Potentials of representative heirloom vegetables on Shonai region of Yamagata, Japan

Abstract

The aim of this work was to elucidate the proximate composition, functional components, and functional properties of representative heirloom vegetables on Shonai region of Yamagata, Japan. Turnip roots such as Fujisawakabu and Tomoefuki contained a lot of proteins and carbohydrates among these vegetables tested. Many vegetables showed about 2-3 times as many vitamin C and β-carotene values as corresponding commercially available vegetables. Overall, water and methanol extracts prepared from these vegetables possessed remarkably high antioxidative activities except for Makomodake. Radical scavenging through different mechanisms and hyaluronidase inhibitory activities varied markedly among these vegetables. Particularly, all vegetables exhibited outstanding ACE inhibitory activities about 45.1-95.8%. These findings demonstrated that heirloom vegetables used in this study served as good sources of vitamins, phenolics, and antioxidants compared to corresponding commercially available vegetables. Positively eating of these vegetables can probably contribute to health promotion to prevent life style-related diseases such as cancer, hypertension, and inflammation. Furthermore, it also may have potentials for preservation of species and for promotion of sustainable cultivation of heirloom vegetables.