Free radical scavenging activity and phenolic content of edible wild fruits from Kazdagi (Ida Mountains), Turkey

Abstract

The ethanolic and acetone extracts of wild fruits collected from Kazdagi (Ida Mountains) were examined for free radical scavenging activity and phenolic compounds. The extracts of the fresh fruits of Arbutus unedo, Lycium europaeum, Prunus spinosa, Rosa canina, andRubus sanctus were examined for their antioxidant properties by using the free radical 1,1’-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging method. The percentage inhibition of the extracts varied from 93.7 to 99.9%. The total phenolics, flavonoids, carotenoids, and condensed tannins of the extracts of the investigated samples ranged from 0.23 to 7.28 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g fresh fruit, 1.69 to 4.19 mg/g fresh fruit, 0.49 to 7.17 mg/g fresh fruit, and 20.18 to 315.51 μg catechin equivalent (CE)/g fresh fruit. It was determined that the fresh wild fruits collected from Kazdagi exhibited high free radical scavenging capacity. Furthermore, the fresh fruits were found to contain appreciable amounts of phenolic compounds influencing the antioxidant capacity of the samples.   Key words: Kazdagi, wild fruits, 1,1’-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), phenolics, flavonoids, carotenoids, tannins.