Investigation on the antioxidant compounds and antioxidant capacity of Romanian Prunus species

Abstract

The current investigation delineates the application of the photochemiluminescence assay in two distinct extracts, namely hydrophilic and lipophilic, alongside the utilization of the DPPH method to quantify the antioxidative potential of five fruits belonging to the Prunus genus (sweet cherry, sour cherry, apricot, peach and plum). The findings of this study revealed that the analyzed fruit samples exhibited noticeable concentrations of phenolic compounds ranging from 31.14 ± 0.29 to 171.61 ± 0.98 mg of Gallic Acid Equivalent per 100 g of fresh weight. In reference to the flavonoid content, the observed concentrations ranged from 8.61±0.19 to 22.15 ± 0.31 mg Rutin Equivalent per 100 g fresh weight, whereas the anthocyanin content displayed concentrations ranging between 0.26 ± 0.01 and 5.26 ± 0.51 mg cyanidin-3-glucoside equivalent per 100 g fresh weight. Remarkably, the sour cherry exhibited the highest antioxidant capacity among the tested fruits in both hydrophilic and lipophilic systems, followed by sweet cherry and apricot.