Antioxidant and Antiproliferative Activities of Phenolic Extracts of Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl. Fruits and Leaves

Abstract

Increasing interest in new sources of secondary metabolites as biologically active substances has resulted in an advanced study of many plant species. Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl. = Rhaphiolepis bibas (Lour.) Galasso & Banfi, Rosaceae family), an evergreen, subtropical fruit tree, native to China and Japan, but cultivated in southern countries of Europe, is a species commonly used in folk medicine and may be an excellent source of bioactive compounds. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the profile of the phenolic constituents of E. japonica fruits and leaves originating from Tuscany (Italy), as well as their in vitro antioxidant and chemopreventive activities on human cancer cell lines breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7), colon adenocarcinoma (Caco-2 and HT-29), and glioblastoma (U87MG). Results revealed that the extract of leaves displayed higher antioxidant and anticancer potential than the fruit extract and contained 25 individual phenolic compounds that have been characterized and quantified by the UPLC-PDA-MS method. The antiproliferative activity was correlated with the content of polyphenolic compounds indicating that both fruits and leaves are a good source of antioxidants and may be exploited as nutraceuticals enriching food or as components for the cosmetic/pharmaceutical industry.

Characterization of Azorean Plant Leaves for Sustainable Valorization and Future Advanced Applications in the Food, Cosmetic, and Pharmaceutical Industries

“…However, a direct comparison of the results is not possible as they were determined using IC50 values. Studies reported ABTS levels (0.74 ± 3.78 mmol Trolox/g DW) higher than ours (0.22 ± 0.01 mmol Trolox/g DW) in E. japonica leaves collected in Pisa, Italy [67]. Conversely, Hong et al [68] obtained FRAP values (0.4 ± 19.5-0.5 ± 17.7 mmol Trolox/g DW) within the range of our values (0.43 ± 0.01 mmol Trolox/g DW).…”

“…Zengin et al [66] achieved a higher total phenol content in I. batatas leaf extracts from Northern Italy using three distinct extraction methods, namely soxlet (77.39 ± 0.99 mg GA/g DW), microwave (73.10 ± 3.75 mg GA/g DW), and decoction (89.26 ± 1.34 mg GA/g DW), so we cannot make a direct comparation. Pawlowska et al [67] reported a lower total phenol content (0.48 ± 0.11 mg GA/g DW) in E. japonica leaves, collected in Pisa, Italy, than in our study (111.58 ± 6.08 mg GA/g DW). Hong et al [68] conducted a study on phenolic content in different species of E. japonica collected in China, also reporting total phenolic content values (47.5 ± 1.7-54.9 ± 2.4 mg GA/g DW) lower than those in our study (111.58 ± 6.08 mg GA/g DW).…”

“…In the case of E. japonica leaves, Pawlowska et al [ 67 ] identified and quantified twenty-five compounds belonging to the classes of phenolic acids, flavones, and flavonols. The content is expressed in mg/100 g DW of sample, with the most significant differences found in the total phenolic acids.…”

Eriobotrya japonica Fermentation with Plant-Derived Lactiplantibacillus plantarum MSC-5T Ameliorates Antioxidant Activity in HEK293 Cells

“…Furthermore, the leaf extract of EJ may have higher antioxidant and anticancer potential than the fruit extract. Of note, chlorogenic acid and caffeic acids occurred most abundantly in the leaf [29]. As shown in Figure 3a, we observed a new peak at 10.68 min retention time in fermented extract; however, no product peak could be detected in unfermented EJ extract.…”

Therapeutic Role of Polyphenol Extract from Prunus cerasifera Ehrhart on Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver

“…In the same batch, we harvested a sufficient amount of fresh wild P. cerasifera fruits in Yili, Xinjiang, China, on 20 August 2022 and immediately quick-froze them to −20 °C. We made slight modifications to the PPE extraction process based on previously reported methods [ 41 ]. The process involved the following steps: First, fresh P. cerasifera fruits were carefully deseeded and homogenized.…”