Valencian paella: Synergistic antioxidant properties of a complete dish versus its isolated ingredients

The Mediterranean Diet (MD) is rich in plant-based foods that provide antioxidants associated with a lower risk of chronic degenerative diseases, with Valencian paella (mainly composed of rice, flat green and lima beans, chicken, rabbit, tomato and olive oil) being one of its most representative dishes. To date, there are few studies that analyse the antioxidant properties in complete dishes and consider both extractable and non-extractable antioxidant fractions. Therefore, this study provides information on the antioxidant properties of paella, evaluating total polyphenols (TP)(Folin-Ciocalteu) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC)(TEAC and ORAC methods) both in extractable and non-extractable fractions. Per 100g, the values for total (extractable+non-extractable) ranged from 835.65 mg GAE /dry weight (DW) in TP, while for TAC they were 1286.80 and 77803.54 µM Trolox/DW, for TEAC and ORAC, respectively, like other MD dishes. Throughout the study, there was a higher prevalence of the non-extractable antioxidant fraction for TAC compared to the extractable fraction in paella and in each of its ingredients, accounting for up to 82% (ranging from 61% to 95%). Additionally, it is worth noting that there was an antioxidant synergy in a complete serving of paella compared to the sum of its ingredients: TP (478.74 vs. 168.37), TEAC (2111.10 vs. 1669.98), and ORAC (127642.42 vs. 47023.59), respectively. The results can contribute to expanding the information present in CAT and TP databases since there are few studies on complete dishes, and these tend to significantly underestimate the total values due to the lack of determination of non-extractable antioxidants.