Muscolo Adele
Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, Italy
Title: Changes in soil available nutrients, by using NaCl, improve nutritive and health promoting compounds in the edible seeds of three different variety of lentil (Lens culinaris Medik)
Biography
Biography: Muscolo Adele
Abstract
Lentil is a grain legume important in human diet for its richness in protein and bioactive compounds. Lentil is cultivated worldwide but salinity is limiting its productivity mainly in Mediterranean and Eastern Countries. Few studies evaluated changes in the edible part of lentil under salinity. Considering the importance of this legume from a nutritional point of view, we cultivated three lentil accessions native to south and central Italy in 100 mM NaCl conditioned soils to verify if salinity affected the productivity, the nutritive values and phytochemical contents of their edible part (grain). The growth and nutritive properties of each local variety (Castelluccio di Norcia, Ustica and Pantelleria) have been compared to lentil cultivated in unsalinized soil (own control) and to the same local variety sold to the market. Our results evidenced that NaCl increased total proteins in respect to all the commercial and control lentils. No differences in the carbohydrate content among the salinized, commercial and control lentils were instead detected. The antioxidant capacity, detected as ABTS (2,2’-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid), DPPH ( 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl), FRAP (Ferric reducing antioxidant power) and Ferrozine activities increased in salt affected lentils. In addition, we observed an increase in total phenols, flavonoids and carotenoids that are considered potent antioxidants. The ethanolic extracts of the edible seeds of the different local varieties of lentils showed a higher number of compounds in all the NaCl grown lentils compared to the corresponding varieties grown in the same soil without salts or to the own commercial variety. In respect to the increase and appearance of antioxidant compounds in the edible part of lentils grown under salinity we can assume that NaCl, changing the ratio of nutrients availability, can cause nutritional alterations and/or osmotic stress that activate the secondary metabolism of plants causing an over production of phytochemicals with proven positive effects on human health.