Comparison of nutrient composition, phytochemicals and antioxidant activities of two large fruit cultivars of sea buckthorn in Xinjiang of China

Although the basic nutritional composition and in vitro antioxidant activity of different cultivars of sea buckthorn fruit have been reported, the contents of sugars, acids, antioxidant components and antioxidant activities of two large fruit cultivars, ZhuangYuanHuang (ZYH) and ShenQiuHong (SQH), sea buckthorn fruits from Xinjiang of China have not been studied. In this study, we found that the soluble sugars were mainly glucose and fructose, and no significant difference in soluble sugars content was found between the two cultivars. ZYH exhibited higher contents of total acids, malic acid, tartaric acid, citric acid and succinic acid, but lower quinic acid compared to that in SQH. ZYH owned higher total phenolics and total flavonoids contents than that in SQH. A total of 12 phenolics were found in the two cultivars, isorhamnetin and quercetin contents were considerably higher in ZYH than in SQH, while protocatechuic acid, catechin, ferulic acid and p-coumaric acid contents were lower than in SQH. VC and VE (gamma-VE, alpha-VE, delta-VE) were much higher in ZYH than in SQH. The contents of total carotenoids, beta-carotene and lycopene in ZYH were considerably higher than those of SQH. In addition, the DPPH and FRAP scavenging activity and cellular antioxidant activity of ZYH were significantly higher than those of SQH. Taken together, the higher antioxidant activities of ZYH may be due to its higher levels of phenolics, flavonoids, VC, VE and carotenoids.