Nutritional Composition, Bioactive Compounds, and Volatiles Profile Characterization of Two Edible Undervalued Plants: <i>Portulaca oleracea</i> L. and <i>Porophyllum ruderale</i> (Jacq.) Cass

Abstract

Wild edible plants are an important source of healthy food and have played an important role in traditional Mediterranean diets. In this paper, quality characteristics were typified in Portulaca oleracea L. and Porophyllum ruderale (Jacq.) Cass, undervalued plants inherent to the spring-summer season in the Valencian coastal region. Nutritional composition and bioactive compounds were analyzed and compared between plants in wild and organic cultivation conditions. Proximate analysis was carried out according to Association of Official Analytical Chemists methods. Total antioxidants were measured as 2.2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl hydrate and total polyphenols content via the Folin–Ciocalteu procedure. The HS-SPME technique was used to characterize the volatiles profile, and the polyphenol profile was evaluated by HPLC. The most important microelement was iron. Total antioxidants ranged from 4392.16 to 7315.00 μmol Trolox·equivalents 100 g−1 fw, and total phenolic content ranged from 99.09 to 391.18 mg gallic acid equivalents·100 g−1 fw. Results show that the content of antioxidants and phenols was higher in wild species than in cultivated ones. The volatiles profile revealed that P. ruderale was rich in monoterpenoids (48.65–55.82%), and fatty alcohols were characteristic in P. oleracea species (16.21–54.18%). The results suggest that both plants could be healthy foods and could have new sustainable agro-ecological potential for the local commercial sector.

Keywords

• healthy food
• quality characteristics
• nutritional composition
• bioactive compounds
• volatiles profile
• undervalued plants