Chemical characterization of carob seeds (Ceratonia siliqua L.) and use of different extraction techniques to promote its bioactivity

Nowadays, the use of carob (Ceratonia siliqua L.) is reduced to its seeds. In fact, the food additive E410, locust bean gum, is obtained from its endosperm. However, the available information regarding the bioactive potential of carob seeds is limited and, often, with poorly established terminologies, not allowing the reader to know if the studied samples included seedless or seeded samples. So, the present study intended to carry out a chemical characterization of carob seeds focused on their bioactive compounds and test their bioactive properties. Carob seeds proved to be a source of tocopherols and organic acids, including phenolic compounds. Its antioxidant potential was demonstrated in vitro, as well as its antimicrobial capacity. This work proves that carob seeds have other functions in addition to those associated with E410. Thus, another potential can be given to the locust bean seed, namely the function of food preservative. ; The authors thank the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020); to the national funding by FCT, P.I., through the institutional scientific employment program-contract for C. Pereira, M.I. Dias and L. Barros’ contracts. Further acknowledgments are due to the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Regional Operational Program North 2020, within the scope of Project Norte-01-0145-FEDER-000042: GreenHealth and Norte-01-0247- FEDER- 024479: ValorNatural®, whom the author F.S. Reis thanks for her contract. This work was also financed by ERDF, through the Incentive System to Research and Technological Development, within the Portugal2020 Competitiveness and Internationalization Operational Program, for the project POCI-01-0247-FEDER-046112: BIOMA. This work has been supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (451-03-68/2020- 14/200007). ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion