Oxalate Content and Antioxidant Activity of Different Ethnic Foods

Abstract

Objective: There is not enough information on the classification of oxalate content in several foods, particularly in ethnic foods, to recommend their consumption in subjects with urolithiasis (UL). The objective of the present study was to generate reliable information on the oxalate content and antioxidant activity in different foods and classify them by very low, low, medium, high and very high oxalate content and antioxidant activity.

Methods: The oxalate content of 109 foods including ethnic foods was assessed by an enzymatic assay, and the antioxidant activity was measured by the oxygen radical absorbance capacity to determine the oxalate/antioxidant activity ratio. Oxalate consumption was then evaluated in 400 subjects with overweight and obesity using 24-h dietary recalls.

Results: The main foods with high oxalate content were raw spinach, huanzontle, purslane, chard, almond, and toasted and sweetened roasted amaranth. The highest antioxidant activity was found in strawberries, all types of chocolates, roselle, morita peppers, and pinolillo. Subjects with overweight or obesity exceed the dietary oxalate daily intake recommendation.

Conclusions: The classification of foods by their oxalate content and antioxidant activity will be very useful to generate nutritional recommendation in different diseases, mainly UL.