Antioxidant Capacity of Several Romanian Forest Fruits (Rosa canina L., Prunus spinosa L., Vaccium vitis-idaea L. and Cornus mas L.)

The comparison of the antioxidant activity of the studied forest fruits emphasized a hierarchy of the antioxidant capacity in rosehip, blackthorn, lingonberry and cornelian cherry. The purpose of the study was to investigate the antioxidant capacity and nutritional value of rosehip, blackthorn, lingonberry and cornelian cherry. In the current study, the FT-IR spectroscopy technique was applied to detect molecular components in forest fruits samples. Antioxidant capacity was evaluated with photochemical assay as well as humidity, protein, fibre, lipid and carbohydrate content. The FT-IR results revealed the presence of different bio-active compounds in berries such as flavonoids, tannins, sugars, acids, proanthocyanidins, carotenoids, citric metabolites and others. The highest antioxidant capacity was observed in rosehip 105.67 +/- 1.38 and blackthorn 49.89 +/- 1.92 (mu g/mg equivalent ascorbic acid). Regarding nutritional parameters, rosehip showed the most increased content of protein displaying average values of 1.60, carbohydrates 38.20 and fibre 24.10 (g/100 g/sample). These results can provide useful information providing a research interest for the identification of new molecular compounds from Romanian flora samples.