PHENOLIC CONTENT AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF CRATAEGUS MONOGYNA JACQ. AND CRATAEGUS MACROCARPA HEGETSCHW. LEAVES
Phenolic contents of methanolic extracts prepared from leaves and fruits of Crataegus monogyna Jacq. and Crataegus macrocarpa Hegetschw. were determined. The antioxidant capacity was assessed by DPPH, ABTS and FRAP assay. The results showed that leaves were richer in the content of phenols (59.23 91.91 GAE g-1), flavonoids (2.38 4.08 mg QE g-1 and 5.24 8.9 mg RE g-1) , phenolic acids (33.40 68.98 CAE g-1) and proanthocyanidins (26.15 48.60 CE g-1) while in fruits anthocyanins dominateted (0.43 0.80 CG g-1). Leaves also had higher antioxidant capacity than fruits for both species. Generelly, C. monogyna fruits had higher content of anthocyanins. Total phenols, phenolic acids and proanthocyanidins were highly corelated with DPPH (r2 = 0.8703 0.9618), ABTS (r2 = 0.7833 0.9443) and FRAP (r2 = 0.903 0.9695) assay. The results suggests that these compounds were the major contributors to the antioxidant capacity in leaves and fruits extracts of both species. Higher contents of bioactive compounds and higher antioxidant capacity were determined for C. x macrocarpa samples. Therefore, C. x macrocarpa leaves and fruits are valuble source of antioxidant polyphenols with high potential for use in preparation of different natural health products.