Bioactive ingredients of huitlacoche (), a potential food raw material.

Huitlacoche () is a staple food traditionally consumed in Mexico. On one hand, it is considered a pathogen and a devastating disease for maize (), and, conversely, some reports highlight it as a culinary delight and a food alternative for its nutritional and functional characteristics. The present work aimed to compare two different methods: maceration and ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), in order to achieve the highest amount of total phenolic compounds (TPC), followed by the antioxidant capacity (AC) measurement, as well as the effect of the digestion. UAE produced the highest TPC content (13.44 mg GAE/mg ds) for a 1:5 huitlacoche:solvent ratio using ethanol at 75%. The maximum values for AC were 22.5 mg TE/mL (for DPPH assay) and 45.26 mg TE/mL (for ABTS assay). The digestion showed that AC is maintained and increased through the digestion process. Thus, huitlacoche can be revalorised as a potential food raw material for human nutrition and health.