Abstract

PHYTOCHEMICALS AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITIES OF APPLE BER, A HYBRID VARIETY OF ZIZIPHUS MAURITIANA

Rajni Nigam*

Abstract

Indian zuzube (Ziziphus mauritiana) or commonly called as Ber is a tropical fruit with lots of medicinal properties. A hybrid variety called Apple Ber has now hit the Indian market and is rapidly gaining popularity because of bigger size, crispy and sweet taste and higher shelf life. However, no study has been taken up to analyze if the hybrid fruit contains antioxidative properties. The fruit of Apple Ber extracted with different solvents showed the presence of flavonoids in aqueous and methanolic extract, while tannins were present in methanol and ethyl acetate extracts, as were triterpenes. Highest antioxidant activity was found with methanolic extract, followed by ethyl acetate extract. The methanolic extract, equivalent to 600 μg equivalent dry weight was able to produce the same effect as was with ascorbic acid with 1 mg ml-1 concentration. The present study shows that these hybrid fruits have enough quantity of antioxidants.

Keywords: Ziziphus mauritiana, hybrid fruit, phytochemicals, antioxidant activity, peroxide radical, DPPH.