Antioxidant, Antimicrobial Activities and Fatty Acid Compositions of Wild Berberis spp. by Different Techniques Combined with Chemometrics (PCA and HCA).

Betül Gıdık

doi:10.3390/molecules26247448

Abstract

Interest in medicinal plants and fruits has increased in recent years due to people beginning to consume natural foods. This study aims to investigate the total phenolic flavonoid content, antioxidant activity, condensed tannin content, oil content, and fatty acid compositions of five local breeds of Berberis spp. from Bayburt, Turkey, and their antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. The fatty acid composition of samples was performed with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and the total fatty acid content of samples was between 6.12% and 8.60%. The main fatty acids in Berberis spp. samples were α-linolenic acid (32.85–37.88%) and linoleic acid (30.98–34.28%) followed by oleic acid (12.85–19.56%). Two antioxidant assays produced similar results, demonstrating that extracts of wild B. vulgaris L. had the highest ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) (621.02 μmol FeSO4.7H2O/g) and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) (0.10 SC50 mg/mL) values. According to principal component analysis (PCA), four components were determined. In addition, two main groups were determined according to hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), and wild and culture of B. vulgaris L. were in different subgroups. This is the first original report about the fatty acid composition and oil content of Berberis spp. grown in Bayburt, Turkey. The obtained results indicate that B. integerrima Bunge and B. vulgaris, which have especially remarkable fatty acid content, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activity, could be potential sources for these properties in different areas of use.

Highlights

The increasing world population has caused people to search for new food sources
Local people in different countries still use the fruits of wild plants to protect their health, and the pharmacological properties of these wild fruits are attributed to phenolic compounds that act as natural antioxidants [3]
In recent years, depending on the increase in the world population, the chemical contents of wild plants consumed by local people in different nations are a matter of curiosity, but the amount of research on this subject is limited

Summary

Introduction

The increasing world population has caused people to search for new food sources. wild plants are gaining increasing value. Interest in wild plants has increased in recent years since people have recently begun consuming natural foods For this reason, the nutrient content of wild plants should be determined and those that can be considered as a food source should be determined and their cultivation should be encouraged together with breeding studies. Local people in different countries still use the fruits of wild plants to protect their health, and the pharmacological properties of these wild fruits are attributed to phenolic compounds that act as natural antioxidants [3]. When evaluated in this respect, phenolic compounds are antioxidant molecules found in all plants and whose bioactive properties are well known. Due to the increasing use of these compounds in industrial areas (development of functional food and nutraceuticals, etc.), it is very important to determine the natural sources

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