Evaluation of Arenaria montana L. hydroethanolic extract as a chemopreventive food ingredient: A case study focusing a dairy product (yogurt)

- A. montana hydroethanolic extract was able to inhibit VEGFR-2 phosphorylation.
- Free and microencapsulated forms were incorporated in yogurts.
- The incorporation of the extracts did not alter the nutritional value.
- The final VEGFR-2 phosphorylation inhibition was not exhibited as intended.

Natural ingredients are valuable options to be exploited in the design of innovative food formulations with health benefits. Therefore, it was evaluated the potential use of Arenaria montana L. hydroethanolic extract (rich in apigenin derivatives) as a chemopreventive agent in functional foods. Apigenin is recognized as inhibiting VEGFR-2, which is the key receptor involved in angiogenesis. The obtained extract was also able to inhibit the VEGFR-2 phosphorylation through an enzymatic assay (IC50 = ∼63 µg/mL). Thereafter, free and microencapsulated forms were incorporated in yogurt. The obtained products maintained the nutritional value along the tested 3 days of storage, as also free sugars and fatty acids profiles, in comparison with the control samples. Nevertheless, the VEGFR-2 phosphorylation inhibition was not exhibited as intended. Even this behavior for the microencapsulated forms can be attributed to the protecting effect of the alginate matrix, further studies are required in order to better understand the shown performance.