Antioxidant activity of peptides obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis from proteins of amaranthus (Amaranthus hypochondriacus l.) stubble

Abstract

This research work is focused on the enzymatic hydrolysis of amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus) stubble to obtain peptides and demonstrate their antioxidant activity. To this aime, we analyzed extracts of leaves and stems of this plant species. Amaranth stubble was dried and grounded to 0.1 mm particle size and treated by enzymatic digestion using Flavourzyme® or Alcalase®. The hydrolysis degree was 16.31 % and 12.64 %, for each digestion, respectively. The peptides obtained showed antioxidant activity in all the range of molecular size from < 1 kDa to >10 kDa. Our findings indicate that amaranth stubble is an available material that can be used to obtain peptides with antioxidant activity.