Published in Scientific Bulletin. Series F. Biotechnologies, Vol. XVII
Written by Gabriela LUTA, Florentina ISRAEL-ROMING, Daniela BĂLAN, Evelina GHERGHINA
Berries fruits contain phytochemical components with antioxidant activity, such as polyphenols, ascorbic acid, that have possible protective effects on human health. Free radicals can induce changes in different cell biomolecules such as lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. This oxidative stress is involved in pathogenesis of many human diseases: cancer, cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, neurodegenerative processes. The objective of these researches was to estimate and compare the free radicals scavenging activity of total extracts of certain berries fruits species: raspberry (Rubus idaeus), strawberry (Fragaria ananassa), sea-buckthorn (Hippophaea rhamnoides). The evaluation involved determination of total phenols using spectrophotometrical method and of ascorbic acid content by HPLC method. Total antioxidant capacity was determined using the stable free radical iphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method and calculating the parameter IC50 (the concentration of sample which is required to scavenge 50% of DPPH free radicals). As expected, sea-buckthorn fruits manifested the highest radical scavenging activity expressed as EC50 value (512.76 πg/ml). A linear correlation was obtained for total phenols content (Pearson’s correlation coefficient -0.945) and for ascorbic acid (-0.8607).
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ascorbic acid
