Health related functional characteristics and antioxidant potential of mucilage (dietary fiber) from Zizyphus mauritiana fruits

The composition of Zizyphus mauritiana mucilage (ZMM) and several properties related to its nutritional quality were investigated. The ZMM with good water holding capacity (25.21 g/g), swelling capacity (19.34 mL/g), glucose dialysis retardation index and in vitro amylolysis kinetics indicate that it may have the capability in controlling the diabetes. Structural characteristics of ZMM were analyzed using the Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. In addition, the ZMM has the strong antioxidant potency against ABTS (16,587.32 mmol trolox equiv./g), DPPH (5.27 g mucilage/g DPPH), hydroxyl (76.13%) and superoxide (85.12%) radicals due to the presence of polyphenols (25.54 mg GAE/g mucilage). Besides, the ZMM also inhibited the acetylcholine esterase (86.89%), tyrosinase (47.01%), α-amylase (70.13%) and α-glucosidase (87.14%) enzymes. These properties make the crude mucilaginous fraction from Z. mauritiana fruit an excellent candidate of potential nutraceutical and functional food.