Proteinase inhibition and antioxidant activity of selected forage crops

The hypothesis of the possible therapeutic potential of selected species of forage crops is discussed. Extracts from genotypes of Anthyllis sp., Astragalus sp., Coronilla sp., Lotus sp., Medicago sp., Melilotus sp., Onobrychis sp. and Trifolium sp. were prepared and tested for proteinase inhibition and antioxidant activities. We found that Trifolium pratense accession POLKIE99-3 expressed the highest relative trypsin inhibition activity (80.0%) compared to standards. The highest thrombin inhibition activity (81.4%) was detected in the Medicago sativa old cultivar Hodoninka, whereas the highest relative urokinase inhibition activity (62.5%) was expressed by the local population Nitranka. Relatively high antioxidant properties of Trifolium sp. accessions, Trifolium pratense genetic resources SVKZAH98-40, were of interest. Results of this study confirmed that there are significant differences in proteinase inhibition and antioxidant activity among important selected agricultural crops. The present paper may also be the starting point of the research aimed for development of new functional food and nutraceuticals, and/or of the research focused on new secondary metabolites with potential as bioactive compounds.