Flaxleaf fleabane leaves (conyza bonariensis), a new functional nonconventional edible plant?

This work aimed to investigate the phytochemical composition, nutritional value, antioxidant, antihemolytic, antihyperglycemic, and antiproliferative activities of flaxleaf fleabane (Conyza bonariensis) leaves. Different concentrations of water and ethanol (0:100, 25:75, 50:50, 75:25, and 100:0 v/v) were used in the extraction process and results showed that the hydroalcoholic extract (50:50 v/v) presented the highest total phenolics, ortho‐diphenolics, Folin‐Ciocalteu reducing capacity, FRAP, and Fe2+ chelating ability values. Flaxleaf fleabane leaves (FFL) contained 19.6 g/100 g of fibers and 26 g/100 g of proteins. Ellagic acid, procyanidin A2, caffeic, rosmarinic, gallic, and 2,5‐dihydroxybenzoic acids were the main phenolics. This phenolic‐rich extract inhibited the lipid oxidation of Wistar rat brain (IC50 = 863.0 mg GAE/L), inhibited α‐glucosidase activity (IC50 = 435.4 µg/mL), protected human erythrocytes against mechanical hemolysis at different osmolarity conditions, and showed cytotoxic/antiproliferative effects against human ileocecal adenocarcinoma cells (HCT8; IC50 = 552.6 µg/mL) but no cytotoxicity toward noncancerous human lung fibroblast (IMR90). Overall, FFL showed potential to be explored by food companies to be a source of proteins, natural color substances, and phenolic compounds841234733482CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESNão tem001Authors thank PROAP/CAPES (Finance Code 001) for partially funding the work and Fundação Araucária for the scholarships, and C‐LABMU‐SEBISA‐UEPG (Complexo de Laboratórios Multiusuários da UEPG) for the infrastructure. D. Granato (process 303188/2016‐2) and A. S. Sant'Ana (process 302763/2014‐7) thank Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPQ) for productivity grant