The potential of traditional foods from Black Sea Area as source of vitamins and bioactive compounds

Introduction. In the last years, great attention has been devoted to the study of bioactive compounds in order to prevent or delay the onset of chronic diseases. This work aims to study the carotenoid, vitamins and total folate content of the traditional foods from Black Sea Area countries (BSAC) that have been prioritised in the frame of the BaSeFood project. Material and methods. Carotenoids and vitamins A and E were quantified by ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography with diode array detection (DAD). In order to quantify L ascorbic acid and vitamin B2, samples were analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography with DAD and fluorescence detection, respectively. The total folate content in foods was carried out by a microbiological assay. Results. From the analysed BSAC foods, 12 (43%) contained lycopene. The foods with highest lycopene content were watermelon juice, sautéed picked green beans and Ukrainian borsch (235  19.9, 176  48.3 and 166  1.01 µg/100 g, respectively). Rodopian dried beans from the group of vegetables and vegetable based foods presented the highest α-carotene content (167.8  18.0 µg/100 g). Among the analysed traditional foods, 15 (54%) contained β-carotene. The highest β-carotene content (608  52.4 µg/100 g) was found in plums jam, followed by kale soup (538  51.4 µg/100 g). Vitamin C was quantified in only 5 of the analysed foods, with fruit of the evergreen cherry laurel (29.9 mg/100 g) having the highest content. The traditional food from BSAC with higher concentration in vitamins B2, E and total folate was roasted sunflower seeds (0.19  0.02 mg/100 g, 6.0  0.99 mg/100 g and 113 µg/100 g, respectively). All results are given per 100 g of edible portion. Conclusions. Despite the great variability on the content of carotenoids and vitamins, most of the analysed traditional foods from BSAC can be considered good sources of these health promoting compounds.