A Comprehensive Approach to Antioxidant Activity in the Seeds of Wild Legume Species of Tribe Fabeae

The benefits of polyphenols have been widely demonstrated in recent decades. In order to find new species with a high biological functionality, the antioxidant activity of the polyphenol extracts from seeds of 50 taxa of tribe Fabeae (Lathyrus, Lens, Pisum, and Vicia) from Spain has been studied. Considering the average concentration obtained from the data in the four genera of the Fabeae tribe, Pisum and Lathyrus show the highest average polyphenol concentration. The highest specific antioxidant activity as well as the antioxidant activity coefficient was observed in Pisum and Vicia. However, with respect to the total antioxidant activity, the highest average value was observed in Lathyrus and Pisum. The results obtained reveal that many of the wild taxa examined could be potential source of antioxidants.