Phenolic content and profiles of selected wild fruits of Zimbabwe: Ximenia caffra, Artobotrys brachypetalus and Syzygium cordatum

Abstract

SummaryThe phenolic compound content and profiles of three wild fruits found in Zimbabwe were tentatively identified using the traditional colorimetric methods and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The fruits assayed were: Ximenia caffra, Artobotrys brachypetalus and Syzygium cordatum. Ximenia caffra fruit peels contained the highest amounts of total phenolics amounting to 1205 lg g)1 in fresh weight, flavonols amounting to 27 lg g )1 and phenolic acids on HPLC tentative identification showed higher concentrations compared with the profiles of the other fruits. Syzygium cordatum fruit peels contained the least amounts of phenolics amounting to 20 lg g)1, flavonols amounting to 8 lg g )1 and phenolic acids' HPLC profiles showed low concentrations. Comparing the peels and pulps of all the fruits, we detected more total phenolics in the peels of X. caffra as high as 1205 lg g )1 and the pulps had 228 lg g)1, more flavonols and phenolic acids while the peels of S. cordatum fruits contained the least with a total phenolic acid content of 20 lg g )1, and had more flavonols in the pulps than the peels, 11 lg g)1 and 8 lg g)1, respectively. Ximenia caffra contained 1.2% and about 1% dry weight condensed tannins in peels and pulps, respectively. In S. cordatum we detected 0.2% and 0.3% dry weight condensed tannins in the peels and pulps, respectively.

Characterization of wild plum (Ximenia americana L. var. americana; Olacaceae) fruit growing at Tepexi de Rodríguez, Puebla, Mexico

“…Total phenolic compounds observed in wild plum fruit ranged from 10 to 26 mg tanic acid g -1 F.W., this amount is higher that those reported for X. americana in Burkina-Faso (2.2 mg g -1 ) and X. caffra in Zimbabwe (0.2 mg g -1 ) (Lamien-Meda et al 2008;Ndhalala et al 2008). Future elucidation of the specific phenolics from fruit and other plant As observed in Fig.…”

Antimicrobial properties and phenolic contents of medicinal plants used by the Venda people for conditions related to venereal diseases

“…Ximenia caffra showed good antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Okemo et al, 2004). Ximenia caffra has been shown to contain simple phenolic compound such as coumaric, vanillic and ferulic acids which have often been implicated in antibacterial activity (Ndhlala et al, 2008a). The MIC and MFC of Amphotericin B (g/ml) (positive control) were 9.77 × 10 −3 and 7.81 × 10 −2 respectively.…”

Phytochemical Analysis and Anti-Inflammatory Activity of the Extracts of the African Medicinal PlantXimenia caffra

“…X. caffra has been used in foods and traditional medicine. Its fruit, considered to be rich in vitamin C, potassium, and protein, has been commonly added into porridges and made into jam [ 3 , 4 ]. The dried seed of X. caffra contains a substantial quantity of unsaturated fatty acids; the most abundant is oleic acid [ 5 ].…”