Antioxidant capacity, phenolic content and total flavonoids of Annona Cherimola Mill. (Annonaceae)

Nowadays, consumers are much more aware of food composition and have foremost interest in tropical fruits due to their bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity, which are very important to prevent some diseases. The antioxidant capacity of ethanolic extract of pulp, seeds and peel of four ripe cultivars of Annona cherimola Mill. (Mateus, Perry Vidal, Madeira and Funchal) were investigated, comparing several methods, such as DPPH, Folin-Ciocalteu method and total flavonoids assay. Total phenols were measured applying the Folin-Ciocalteu method with gallic acid as standard and the total flavonoids content was determined spectrophotometrically using epicatechin as standard. For DPPH assay, the peel showed the highest antioxidant activity, with an EC50 value below 0.3 mg/mL, whereas for the pulp it was higher than 3 mg/mL. The highest value for total phenols and flavonoids was found in the peel (19.9 mg GAE/g and 13.2 mg EC/g respectively). For pulp total phenols content was 3 mg GAE/g and for seeds flavonoids content was 1.3 mg EC/g. Madeira cultivar showed a higher antioxidant activity than all the other cultivars. The three different methods showed that Annona cherimola Mill. have compounds with great antioxidant properties, in particular the peel.This work was funded by National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge (INSA), I.P. Tânia Gonçalves Albuquerque is grateful for the research grant (BRJ/DAN-2012) funded by INSA