Caracterización de proteínas de flores de Geranium (geranio) y evaluación de la capacidad antiinflamatoria y antioxidante

Introduction: Edible flowers such as Geranium have a high content of biologically active compounds such as phenols and proteins that have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. For many years, flower extracts have been of great interest in the food and pharmaceutical industry for the manufacture of nutraceutical and pharmacological products. Objective: The objective of this study was to characterize geranium flower proteins using SDS-PAGE and to evaluate their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant capacity in vitro. Methods: Geranium proteins were obtained using the isoelectric precipitation method and analyzed by the SDS-PAGE technique. In vitro gastrointestinal simulation was performed in three phases: oral, gastric and duodenal. Anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated using the membrane stabilization potential method and antioxidant activity by the ABTS method. Results: The protein content in the concentrate was 18%, the polyacrylamide gel indicates the presence of protein bands that comprise molecular weights between 60 kDa and 5 kDa. Isolated geranium proteins are susceptible to gastrointestinal digestion. In the evaluation of the anti-inflammatory activity, the protein concentrate presented 38.41% protection and in the antioxidant activity 4897.42 umol TE/g sample. Conclusions: Geranium proteins have high anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity and can be used as a functional ingredient in the production of food, nutraceutical and pharmaceutical products.