Metanolic extract of Malpighia emarginata bagasse: phenolic compounds and inhibitory potential on digestive enzymes

Adding value to fruit residues is of great interest, since they can be presented as a viable solution in search of new drugs for the treatment of obesity and related diseases, due to bioactive substances, especially phenolic compounds. Thus, the objective of this study was to prepare the methanol extract of acerola bagasse flour, in order to evaluate its potential as a source of inhibitors of the enzymes α-amylase, α-glucosidase, lipase and trypsin, and determine the content of phenolic compounds by high performance liquid chromatography. Enzymatic inhibition assays were conducted in the presence or absence of simulated gastric fluid. In the methanol extract of acerola bagasse flour, the following phenolic compounds were identified: gallic acid, syringic and p-coumaric acid, catechin, epigallocatechin gallate, epicatechin and quercetin; epicatechin was the major compound. In the absence of gastric fluid, simulated enzymes had a variable inhibition of the acerola bagasse flour extract, except for lipase, which was not inhibited. In the presence of simulated gastric fluid, there was an inhibition of 170.08 IEU (Inhibited Enzyme Unit in μmol min−1 g−1) for α-amylase and 69.29 IEU for α-glucosidase, indicating that this extract shows potential as an adjuvant in the treatment of obesity and other dyslipidemia.