ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY, POLYPHENOL AND ANTHOCYANIN CONTENT OF THREE STRAWBERRY SPECIES (FRAGARIA X ANANASSA DUCHESNE EX ROZIER, FRAGARIA VESCA L., AND FRAGARIA MOSCHATA WESTON)

Abstract

Fragaria L. species are popularly known as garden-grown (F. x ananassa Duchesne ex Rozier) or wild (F. moschata Weston and F. vesca L.) plants with biologically active compounds directly responsible for the high antioxidant potential. This work aimed to determine the total polyphenol compounds, anthocyanins, and antioxidant activity of different extracts of Fragaria spp. full ripened fruits and comparative evaluation of plant raw depending on their origin. The berries were collected from Belgium (Namur), Hungary (Kisbér), Poland (Krakow), Slovakia (Bodovka, Ľubochňa, Trenčin, Trenčianske Jastrabie) and studied in 2023. It was conducted the total content of polyphenol compounds (by Folin-Ciocalteu method), anthocyanins (based on reducing the pH value of the extract), and antioxidant activity (by DPPH assay (2.2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl)) in methyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol, and acetone solutions. Based on experiments the most abundant polyphenols and anthocyanins in the ripening fruits were in both wild species (F. vesca – 4505.76 mg.kg^-1 FW of polyphenols; 258.04 mg.kg^-1 FW of anthocyanins; F. moschata – 5443.01 mg.kg^-1 FW of polyphenols; 228.69 mg.kg^-1 FW of anthocyanins) in comparison of garden-grown species (F. x ananassa) which obtained significantly lower values in all samples. The lowest values in both parameters were measured in the Slovakian sample from Trenčianske Jastrabie (F. x ananassa – 2427.22 mg.kg^-1 FW of polyphenols; 86.19 mg.kg^-1 FW of anthocyanins). Between the lowest and highest values are percentage differences of more than 50% in both analyses. The extracts of F. vesca and F. moschata fruits were effective radical scavengers against radicals DPPH (53.92% and 87.17%, respectively) in comparison to F. x ananassa samples (27.21% 5FE – 52.58% 2FA). Investigated Fragaria spp. are a valuable source of antioxidants and experimental results can be used in further biochemical, pharmacological, and nutraceutical research for practice usage.