Journal of Chromatography A, 1346 (2014) 43–48 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Chromatography A j o ur na l ho me page: www.elsevier.com/locate/chroma Phytochemical profile and nutraceutical potential of chia seeds (Salvia hispanica L.) by ultra high performance liquid chromatography Oliviert Martínez-Cruz, Octavio Paredes-López ∗ Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN, Km. 9.6 Libramiento Norte Carretera Irapuato-León, CP 36821 Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 2 October 2013 Received in revised form 2 April 2014 Accepted 3 April 2014 Available online 13 April 2014 Keywords: Mesoamerican seed Phenolic compounds Antioxidant activity UHPLC DPPH technique a b s t r a c t Chia seeds (Salvia hispanica) were analyzed for total phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, and quan- tification of phenolic acids and isoflavones by ultra high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC), in order to obtain a phenolic phytochemical profile. The total phenolic concentration was 1.8-fold higher than previous reports and the antioxidant activity using DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical assay showed 68.83% inhibition, which was higher than the values reported previously for chia and dif- ferent plant foods. Additionally, a simple, reproducible and rapid UHPLC method was proposed for the analysis of phenolic acids and isoflavones in chia. The method demonstrated to perform well with regard to linearity, limits of detection and quantification, precision, accuracy, and sensitivity. The detection lim- its ranged from 0.05 to 0.4 ng/mL and the recovery percentage from 23.62 to 162.48%. With this method the major compounds identified and quantified were: rosmarinic acid 0.92, protocatechuic ethyl ester 0.74, caffeic acid 0.02, gallic acid 0.01, and daidzin 0.006 mg/g seed. In brief, this study demonstrates that chia could be considered a seed with high antioxidant capacity and novel isoflavone source that can be incorporated in human diet. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction In recent decades, great advances have been observed in medicine. Plants continue to be an important source of compounds for human health. Huge interest has been focused on medicinal plants regarding their long use in folk medicine, as well as their prophylactic properties, mainly in developing countries [1]. Chia (Salvia hispanica) is native from southern Mexico and northern Guatemala. Along with corn, beans and amaranth, chia was a core component in the diet of many pre-Colombian civiliza- tions in America, including the Mayan and Aztec populations; its seeds were valued as oil source for medicinal use [2]. Cultivation of chia was drastically reduced after Spanish colonization due to cul- tural conflicts [3]. Nowadays, chia is commercially grown in Mexico, Bolivia, Argentina, Ecuador and Guatemala [4]. In Mexico, chia seeds are currently used for their nutritional and medicinal properties, i.e., endurance for athletes, appetite sup- pressor, weight loss agent, blood glucose control, and intestinal regulation. Recently, it has been reported the potential use of chia seeds as a good source of proteins with a remarkable thermal sta- bility [5]. Additionally, chia has been an important raw material ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +52 462 6239641. E-mail address: oparedes@ira.cinvestav.mx (O. Paredes-López). to obtain functional foods due to its special characteristics, such as the high content of fatty acids; it offers advantages over other available –3 sources [6]. Chia seeds have been used successfully to increase the –3 fatty acid content of animal products like eggs, poultry [7], rabbit [8], and also as an ingredient of bread and other bakery products [9]. On the other hand, secondary metabolites determine important aspects of food quality and their role as pro- tective dietary constituents have become an increasingly important area of human nutritional research. Herbs of the Lamiaceae family have been indicated as considerable potential sources of secondary active compounds [10]. Most of the species from genus Salvia have homeopathic and horticultural importance as a source of many useful natural constituents, including terpenes and flavonoids. The high diversity of secondary metabolites like phenolic compounds isolated from Salvia plants possess excellent antimicrobial activ- ity, as well as antioxidant capacity and some are used against a number of pathological disturbances, such as atherosclerosis, brain dysfunction, and cancer [11]. Phenolic compounds are basically categorized into several classes, from which phenolic acids, flavonoids and tannins are regarded as the main dietary phenolic compounds [12]. Pheno- lics are grouped as hydroxybenzoic and hydroxycinnamic acids. Hydroxybenzoic acids include gallic, p-hydroxybenzoic, protoca- techuic, vanillic, and syringic acids, which have a C 6 C 1 structure. On the other hand, hydroxycinnamic acids are aromatic compounds http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chroma.2014.04.007 0021-9673/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.