This work was performed to determine the biochemical composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of leaf extracts collected from four different provenances: Mahdia and Mahres (Ziziphus jujuba); Kairouan and Rouhia (Ziziphus lotus). Total phenols, flavonoids, tannins contents and antioxidant activity were evaluated using the Folin ciocalteux, Aluminum trichloride, vanillin and scavenging activity on 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals methods, respectively. The antimicrobial activity was evaluated against three bacterial strains (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and klebsiella pneumoniea) and three fungal strains (Fusarium culmorum, Fusarium solani and Botrytis cinerea), according to well Agar diffusion method. Total phenols and flavonoids were present at levels of 21.98 mg GAE /g DW and 7.80 mg ER/g DW; respectively in Ziziphus lotus. These levels did not exceeded 13.70 mg GAE /g DW and 6.73 mg ER/g DW for Ziziphus jujuba. The tannin contents were present in equal levels (7.9 mg EC/g DW) in two species. The high antioxidant activity (0.01 µg/ml) was noted in Rouhia provenance. The Ziziphus lotus leaf extracts showed promising efficiency against all tested microorganisms with a zone of inhibition ranging between 22 and 23.5 mm. This study could validate the medicinal potential of Ziziphus specie and explain why tunisian people traditionally use it in medicine to treat several pathologies. Ziziphus leaf extracts may be suggested in foods and pharmaceutical industries. Leaf extracts proved also to be effective against tested microorganisms. So, an adequate toxicological study must be carried out to verify the possibility of using these plants for fighting microorganisms.

Ziziphus jujuba pulps are very much appreciated by the inhabitants and have been recently exported. This article reports on the chemical composition (amino acids, polyphenols and sugars) of the pulps of four Z. jujuba ecotypes (Choutrana, Mahdia, Mahres and Sfax). The major amino acids identified were proline, aspartic acid and glutamic acid. Among these, proline was the most abundant amino acid (17.4 mol). Considerable differences in total phenolic contents (15.85 mg/L) were found. Predominant phenols identified by using HPLC were rutin (1.09 mg/L) and chlorogenic acid (2.57 mg/100 g). Sugars isolated from Ziziphus pulps were found at a rate of 43.52%. Using HPLC method, three sugars from the pulp extract were identified: glucose, galactose and sucrose. The Mahdia ecotype was the richest in these sugars with 0.45, 136.51 and 113.28 mg/L, respectively.

The present study aimed to determine the phytoconstituent compositions of the leaves of four Ziziphus jujuba ecotypes (Choutrana, Mahdia, Mahres and Sfax). The chromatographie peaks of 18 compounds, including nine major fatty acids, live sterols, two triterpene alcohols and two methysterols, were quan tified by the capillary gaseous chromatography method. The major fatty acids identified were linolenic (42.04%) and palmitic (23.04%). Unsaturated fatty acids ranged between 53% and 60%. The predominant sterols (mg/100 g) were 13-sitosterol (4036) and stigmasterol (24. 18). Cycloartenol (68.55 mg/100 g) and citrostadienol (12.27 mg/lOOg) were the major metylsterols. Methylene cydoartanol ranged between 1.2 mg/100 g (Sfax) and 1.5 mg/100 g (Mahdia). Total phenolic content measured by Folin-ciocalteux ranged from 3.97 mg GAE/g to 6.04 mg GAE/g. The predominant flavonoids identified by HPLC were apigenin (6.1 mg/g) and rutin (1.91 mg/g). The fatty acids and flavonoids in the Z. jujuba leaves were responsible for their therapeutic and phar maceutical effects. This could explain whyTunisian people traditionally use it as medicine to treat several pathologies.

Thirteen fatty acids were identified from the pulps of four Tunisian Ziziphus jujuba ecotypes (Sfax, Choutrana, Mahres and Mahdia), using capillary gaseous chromatography method. These oils presented 8.31% to 12.35% of dry weights. Compared to the other ecotypes, Mahres and Choutrana were the richest of the oleic acid. The palmitic acid was the most important compound of the Sfax ecotype. Unsaturated fatty acids ranged from 62.63% to 72.40% of the total fatty acids of each ecotype. So a ratio of the unsaturated/saturated (U/S) varied from 1.68 to 2.37. The β-sitosterol and the Stigmasterol were identified as major sterols. The β-sitosterol was the prominent component in the all ecotypes and the highest level (10.65 mg/100g) was noted in Choutrana ecotype. Stigmasterol was more abundant in Sfax (16.12 mg/100g) and Choutrana (4.67 mg/100g) ecotypes. The campesterol sterol was identified only in Sfax and Choutrana ecotypes being more important (2.4 mg/100g) in Choutrana pulps.

The aim of this work was to evaluate some secondary metabolites, antioxidant activity of methanolic leaf extracts of five Ziziphus spina-christi provenances (INRGREF, Tozeur, Degueche, Nafta and Kebelli) and their allelopathic effects on Trigonella foenum-graecum and Lens culinaris. Leaves were collected during 2013 and 2014. Total phenols, flavonoids, tannins and antioxidant activity were evaluated using the Folin ciocalteux, Aluminum trichloride, vanillin and scavenging activity on 22-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical methods, respectively. Total phenols, tannins and flavonoids were present, at levels of 57.41 mg GAE/g DW, 31.98 mg RE/g DW and 14.68 μg CE/g DW, respectively. The high antioxidant activity (0.086 μg/mL) was noted in kebelli provenance (2013). The highest germination, plumule and radicle lengths of tested species were observed in INRGREF provenance. Z. spina-christi leaf extracts may be suggested in foods and pharmaceutical industries. Leaf extracts could also provide a natural herbicide with a positive impact on the environment.