Characterisation and in vivo evaluation of Araucaria angustifolia pinhão seed coat nanosuspension as a functional food source

Abstract

Araucaria angustifolia seeds are culturally important from South America; however, the seed coat is generally discarded and have yet to find a beneficial commercial impact. We propose a new formulation to the usage of the seed coat for the production of a food source; a nanosuspension developed in two conditions, bleached and unbleached treatment. Initial characterisation of the seed coat was performed as well as the nanosuspension, in which it detected nanofibrils with antioxidant activity and high values of phenol and sterol classes by GC-MS with health promoting ability; however, after bleaching, the compounds were removed. Nanosuspension induced a decrease in cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose levels and weight gain when added to the daily food rat diet. However, no significant differences were perceived when bleach treatment was used, suggesting that dietary fibres plays a more significant role. Furthermore, histology analysis and biochemical markers reported no toxicity from the nanoformulation rat ingestion.