Physicochemical and antioxidant activity of fruit harvested from eight jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.) cultivars at different development stages

Abstract

Jujube is a crop highly resistant to drought and salinity, making it one of the main fruit trees in Xinjiang. The present study evaluated the changes in the physicochemical and antioxidant activities of jujube fruit of eight different cultivars from Xinjiang, China. The developmental stages were selected according to the days after full bloom and fruit peel colour during ripening; these stages included young (S1), fruit core-hardening (S2), green ripening (S3), half-red maturity (S4) and complete red. In present study, different cultivars of jujube fruit showed similar chemical profiles, but their amounts showed great variation. HZ had the highest content of sugars, and JY had the highest content of cAMP and cGMP, while relatively higher levels of ascorbic acid, catechin, epicatechin, rutin, proanthocyanidin and antioxidant activity were found in ‘FS’ than in other cultivars, indicating that ‘FS’ could be used as a potential natural antioxidant. Regarding the development stages of jujube fruit, the moisture, ascorbic acid, total polyphenol, catechin, epicatechin, proanthocyanidin and rutin contents decreased during the development of all jujube cultivars, while the fructose, glucose, sucrose, cAMP, and cGMP contents greatly increased. The antioxidant activity determined by DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging decreased as the fruits matured. Therefore, the results suggest that green jujube (S1) could be used for natural antioxidants (catechin, epicatechin, proanthocyanidin) and that the advanced ripening stage(S5) is the proper picking period for fresh fruit and commercial processing.

Surveilling the Rise and fall of Macro/Micro Minerals, Sugars, Total Acidity, Phenolics and Anthocyanins during Fruit Development Stages in Five Mulberry (Morus) Cultivars

“…The decreasing trend observed in total acidity in mulberry cultivars is in line with the outcomes of previous studies [20,21,[42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53] considering acidity as a crucial indicator for the determination of fruit quality [54]. The levels of organic acids are usually inversely related to sugar levels during fruit development where sugars accumulate due to sugar import or starch degradation, while organic acids strongly decrease which accumulated in the young fruits [55].…”

“…This increased antioxidant activity of black mulberry cultivars could be associated due to the increased TFC and anthocyanin contents in black cultivars as compared to the white ones. These results supports the outcomes of Saeed et al [20,21], Yongram et al [63] and Arfan et al [76] where the jamun, phalsa and black/purple mulberry fruits during maturation also exhibited the strongest antioxidant activity in DPPH assay while the outcomes are not in agreement with the ndings of Yan et al [52] where the antioxidant activity in jujube fruit was found to decrease with increasing maturity.…”

Analysis of the changes in quality and characteristics of hot air drying of Xinjiang jujube (Zizyphus jujuba Mill. cv. Junzao) following a delayed harvest

“…The total content of jujube gradually decreased during the S2–S6 stage. Minyan 44 et al also discovered that the titrable acid content of jujube decreased with maturity during the jujube growing phase. As a result, jujube was sweeter and less sour after delayed harvesting, which explains why we selected it as the main raw material for Xinjiang dried fruit processing.…”

Polyphenol Extracts from Ziziphus jujuba Mill. “Junzao” Attenuates Ulcerative Colitis by Inhibiting the NLRP3 and MAPKs Signaling Pathways and Regulating Gut Microbiota Homeostasis in Mice

“…[ 6 ] Moreover, the jujube fruit is rich in many nutrients and bioactive substances, including polysaccharides, fatty acids, polyphenols, dietary fiber, nucleotides, and alkaloids. [ 6 ] These nutrients and bioactive substances play important anticancer, [ 7 ] anti‐inflammatory, [ 8 ] antioxidant, [ 9 ] antibacterial, [ 10 ] and antiviral roles. [ 11 ] The typical daily consumption of polyphenols in the human diet amounts to more than 1 g day −1 , and its concentration in the digestive system can reach up to hundreds of micromoles.…”