Unveiling the Remarkable Antioxidant Activity of Plant-Based Fish and Seafood Analogs through Electrochemical Sensor Analysis

Abstract

The global consumption of vegan foods is experiencing an expressive upward trend, underscoring the critical need for quality control measures based on nutritional and functional considerations. This study aimed to evaluate the functional quality of caviar and salmon analog food inks based on pulses combined with nano ingredients and produced in our laboratory (LNANO). The primary objective of this work was to determine the total antioxidant compounds contained in these samples using a voltammetric technique with a glassy carbon electrode. The samples underwent ethanolic extraction (70%) with 1 h of stirring. The voltammograms were acquired in a phosphate buffer electrolyte, pH 3.0 with Ag/AgCl (KCl 3 mol L−1) as the reference electrode and platinum wire as the auxiliary electrode. The voltammograms revealed prominent anodic current peaks at 0.76–0.78 V, which are attributed to isoflavones. Isoflavones, known secondary metabolites with substantial antioxidant potential commonly found in pulses, were identified. The total isoflavone concentrations obtained ranged from 31.5 to 64.3 mg Eq genistein 100 g−1. The results not only validated the efficacy of the electrochemical sensor for quantifying total antioxidant compounds in the samples but also demonstrated that the concentration of total isoflavones in caviar and salmon analogs fell within the expected limits.