Amino Acid Profiles of Avocado (Persea americana Mill) Leaf products enhanced their Antioxidant and Anti-diabetic Activities

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of different extraction processes on the therapeutic properties of avocado leaf extracts by subjecting the extracts to the amino acid compositions, antioxidants and carbohydrates inhibition analyses. Samples obtained from this study were Avocado leaves flour (ALF), Avocado leaves aqueous extract (ALE), Avocado leaves protein isolate (API), Avocado leaves pancreatin-protein hydrolysates (APH_PAN) and Avocado leaves lactic acid bacteria-protein hydrolysates(APH_LAB), respectively. The APH_PAN and APH_LAB were predominantly composed of glutamine (8.06-8.08%) and valine (6.98-7.00%) when compared to other samples. The samples ALE and APH_LAB exhibited good antioxidant properties indicated by its strong ability to scavenge ABTS, FRAP, DPPH radicals and reduced Fe³⁺ to Fe²⁺.They also significantly (p<0.05) inhibited α-amylase (40-80%), α-glucosidase (25-58%) and pancreatic lipase (28-40%) enzymes, respectively. Hence, the outcomes from this finding suggested the avocado leaves to be a valuable source for functional food in the management and prevention of some degenerative diseases.