Nutritional, chemical, and antimicrobial profile of Apium graveolens L.

Apium graveolens L. also known as celery or wild celery belongs to the family Apiaceae. Celery is a regularly consumed vegetable, also providing strong and distinctive flavours to dishes as well as health benefits to consumers. The constituents of the celery flavour profile include a variety of volatile compounds (terpenes, phytalides and aldehydes) that contribute to its characteristic odour and taste. This work aimed to perform a nutritional characterization of celery and some bioactive properties such as antimicrobial properties through the microdilution method and the antioxidant capacity by TBARS (Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances) method. According to the results from the nutritional analysis, celery consisted mainly of 95% water, followed by ash content (16.40 ± 0.04 g/100 g dw), protein (10.6 ± 0.4 g/100 g dw) and low fat content (1.50 ± 0.01 g/100 g dw), leading to an energy value of 341.8 ±0.2 kcal. Three different soluble sugars were quantified, namely glucose (42 ± 1g/100 g dw) in highest amounts, followed by fructose (14.6 ± 0.1 g/100 g dw) and sucrose (3.20 ± 0.04 g/100 g dw). Of the 19 fatty acids identified, linoleic (48.0 ± 0.1%), palmitic (24.2 ± 0.2%), linolenic (7.96 ± 0.04%) and cis-Docosahexaenoic (3.95 ± 0.05%) acids, were the major molecules. As for organic acids, malic (6.8 ± 0.3 g/100 g dw) and oxalic (5.15 ± 0.09 g/100 g dw) acids were the main compounds, followed by ascorbic(0.104 ± 0.002 g/100 g dw) and fumaric (0.052 ± 0.002 g/100 g dw) acids. For the antifungal activity, both Aspergillus brasiliensis and Aspergillus fumigatus were inhibited at MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration)/MBC (minimum bactericidal concentration) values of 10/>10 mg/mL, respectively; while for bacterial strains, the extract caused greater inhibition on Salmonella Thyphimurium (2.5 mg/mL). Overall, it can be concluded that celery has a good nutritional profile; thus, exploring this food in terms of nutritional benefits in addition to its good bioactive properties is a valuable research topic. Future work will be further conducted regarding its bioactivities testing its anti-proliferative, toxic and anti-inflammatory activity.