Abstract
Currently, the incidence of lifestyle diseases is increasing due to inappropriate nutrition and environmental pollution. To prevent these diseases, various groups of bioactive compounds are needed with a broad spectrum of action and without adverse side effects. Polyphenolic compounds are the most widely studied group of this type of compounds. They occur widely in plants, but their content depends on many factors, including the type of plant, climatic conditions, and the date of harvest. The spectrum of bioactivity of phenolic compounds is determined by their chemical structure, concentration, and interaction with other compounds. Traditional recipes have been studied to search for active plant ingredients. Leaves of shrubs and fruit trees were used in folk medicine as a panacea for many diseases and have been forgotten with time, but their benefits are now being rediscovered. In recent years, much new information about biological activity of phenolic compounds from berry bushes (black currant, raspberry, and aronia) was published. This was reviewed and discussed in this article. The mineral content of their leaves was also summarized because minerals constitute a significant component of plant infusions. It has been shown that high antioxidant and biological activity of leaf extracts results from the presence of active phenolic compounds, which occur in definitely higher amounts than in fruits. Therefore, the leaves of berry bushes seem to be a promising source of substances that can be used as replacements for synthetic agents in the treatment and prevention of lifestyle diseases.
Highlights
In recent years, plant extracts and natural bioactive compounds have increasingly replaced synthetic antioxidants as components in functional food products and in pharmaceutical and cosmetic preparations [1,2]
Cvetkovic et al [2] investigated the possibility of using aronia leaves in the senescence vegetative stage, when the leaves are considered as an agriculture waste, as a potential source of bioactive compounds. They noted that in aronia leaves collected in November, the total content of phenolic compounds was 15 mg of gallic acid equivalent/g. These results prove that the synthesis of phenolic compounds occurs throughout the entire growing season, and the accumulation time varies between plant species
The antimicrobial activity of black currant fruit and leaf extracts was estimated against three gram-positive and three gram-negative bacterial cultures and nine types of fungi by using the method reported by Paunovic et al [8]
Summary
Plant extracts and natural bioactive compounds have increasingly replaced synthetic antioxidants as components in functional food products and in pharmaceutical and cosmetic preparations [1,2]. Because of a huge variety of plant species growing on the Earth, the search for bioactive compounds with directional effects is tedious and not always successful The solution to this issue may be the use of traditional and folk medicine recipes developed using plants. On the basis of these traditional practices, scientists have extracted active ingredients from plants and have investigated their potential use in various industries [3] Many degenerative diseases such cancer, atherosclerosis, and diabetes mellitus result from the harmful effects of free radicals on cellular systems [4]. This article presents the current state of knowledge on individual phenolic and mineral compounds found in the leaves of black currant, raspberry, and aronia as a valuable source of bioactive substances with antimicrobial, antioxidant, and health-promoting properties
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