Banana blossoms (Bb) are by-products of bananas planting that are underutilized. We aimed at evaluating the nutritional value, polyphenolic content, antioxidant capacity, and anti-amylolytic effects of the Egyptian Bb, particularly buds and bracts. Results showed that bracts had a higher content of moisture, total ash, reducing and non-reducing sugars and crude fiber, while buds had a higher content of fat, protein, Na, K and P. Ca was the same in both buds and bracts. Both parts were rich in antioxidative polyphenols and crude dietary fiber. HPLC-PDA analysis showed that chlorogenic acid was the highest phenolic acid in both bracts and buds with values of 24.53 and 18.39 mg/g dry weight, respectively, followed by ferulic and gallic acids. The higher concentration (5 mg/mL) of bud extract inhibited both α-glu and α-amy by 79.63 and 93.58%, respectively; while bract extract inhibited α-glu and α-amy by 83.21 and 97.68%, respectively. Molecular docking results indicated that Bb ex-tract might work as an inhibitor to competition on both enzymes, with a single high-affinity binding site. In conclusion, promising results of this work imply that Bb are a valuable by-product of the banana industry and could be utilized as functional substances. |
