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Wild Arbutus unedo L. and Rubus ulmifolius Schott fruits are underutilized sources of valuable bioactive compounds with antioxidant capacity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 October 2014

Brígida María Ruiz-Rodríguez ,
Concepción Sánchez-Moreno ,
Begoña De Ancos ,
María de Cortes Sánchez-Mata ,
Virginia Fernández-Ruiz ,
Montaña Cámara  and
Javier Tardío
Brígida María Ruiz-Rodríguez
Affiliation:
Fac. Farmacia, Univ. Complut. Madrid (UCM), Pza. Ramón y Cajal, s/n, ES-28040, Madrid, Spain
Concepción Sánchez-Moreno*
Affiliation:
Inst. Cienc. Tecnol. Aliment. Nutr., Cons. Super. Investig. Cient. (ICTAN-CSIC), José Antonio Novais 10, ES-28040 Madrid, Spain,. csanchezm@ictan.csic.es
Begoña De Ancos
Affiliation:
Inst. Cienc. Tecnol. Aliment. Nutr., Cons. Super. Investig. Cient. (ICTAN-CSIC), José Antonio Novais 10, ES-28040 Madrid, Spain,. csanchezm@ictan.csic.es
María de Cortes Sánchez-Mata
Affiliation:
Fac. Farmacia, Univ. Complut. Madrid (UCM), Pza. Ramón y Cajal, s/n, ES-28040, Madrid, Spain
Virginia Fernández-Ruiz
Affiliation:
Fac. Farmacia, Univ. Complut. Madrid (UCM), Pza. Ramón y Cajal, s/n, ES-28040, Madrid, Spain
Montaña Cámara
Affiliation:
Fac. Farmacia, Univ. Complut. Madrid (UCM), Pza. Ramón y Cajal, s/n, ES-28040, Madrid, Spain
Javier Tardío
Affiliation:
Inst. Madr. Investig. Desarro Rural, Agrar. Aliment. (IMIDRA), Finca “El Encín”, Apdo. 127, ES-28800, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain
*
* Correspondence and reprints
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Abstract

Introduction. Several studies reveal the important role played by ‘lesser-known’ wild fruits since they contain nutritional and functional compounds which have biological properties. Materials and methods. Our work studied the presence of bioactive compounds such as vitamin C (ascorbic acid and dehydroascorbic acid), total phenolic content, phenolic acids, flavonols, anthocyanins and the antioxidant capacity (FRAP, ABTS•+ and DPPH• in vitro tests) in wild fruits of Arbutus unedo L. and Rubus ulmifolius Schott of Spanish origin, including samples from different seasons and locations. Results and discussion. A wide variability was found in the composition of fruits of the same species, which substantiates the importance of analyzing several batches of wild fruits, to achieve representative results, taking into account the natural variability. Arbustus unedo fruits showed higher vitamin C, mainly in the ascorbic acid form, and phenolic content than R. ulmifolius [(172–419) mg ascorbic acid×100 g–1 fw vs. (5.99–26.83) mg ascorbic acid×100 g–1 fw, and (773–1621) mg total phenolic compounds×100 g–1 fw vs. (376–1326) mg total phenolic compounds×100 g–1 fw, respectively]; phenolic acids and anthocyanins are the major groups of phenolic compounds found in both species, with gallic acid and cyanidin 3-glucoside as the main compounds. Arbustus unedo fruits showed significantly higher Folin-Ciocalteu values than those of R. ulmifolius. These values are higher than those reported for the majority of berries. The significant correlations found among different antioxidant compounds (r > 0.6300, P < 0.001) may reveal a protective effect between ascorbic acid and phenolic acids or anthocyanins in the fruits. Therefore, Arbutus unedo and R. ulmifolius fruits should be considered as new important sources of safe antioxidants.

Keywords

SpainArbutus unedoRubus ulmifoliusfruitsphenolic compoundsphenolic contentantioxidantsEspagneArbutus unedoRubus ulmifoliusfruitscomposés phénoliquesteneur en phénolsantioxidantEspañaArbutus unedoRubus ulmifoliusfruitscompuestos fenólicoscontenido fenólicoantioxidantes
Type
Original article
Information
Fruits , Volume 69 , Issue 6 , November 2014 , pp. 435 - 448
Copyright
© 2014 Cirad/EDP Sciences

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