Studies on biological activity of elderberry juice: new source of natural products to improve health in the formulation of functional products

Abstract

Elderberry fruit belongs to the wild berry category and is grown in Europe and North America. Elderberries have been traditionally used for medicinal purposes. Fresh, mature fruits of elder are harvested and crushed. After crushing, the made juice was filtered through a filter paper and thus separated from the impurities. Antioxidant potential of elderberry juice was analyzed using several different invitro antioxidant assays: ABTS (2,2’-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonicacid), DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl), CUPRAC (cupric reducingantioxidant capacity) and phosphomolybdenum assay. Total phenolic, total flavonoid and total anthocyanins content were determined spectrophotometrically and their contents amounted 47.95±1.01 mg galic acid/g juice, 4.84±0.10 mg rutin/g juice and 30.85±2.46 µg eq cyanidin-3-glucoside/mg juice, respectively. Also, a polyphenol profile was performed using the HPLC method, which it was detected 27 compounds. Enzyme inhibitory effects were tested against cholinesterase, tyrosinase, amylase and glucosidase. The strongest antioxidant activity of the tested juice was demonstrated by the use of CUPRAC test 143.77±1.49 mg kojic acid/g juice while the best enzyme inhibitory activity was achieved according to the enzyme tyrosinase 8.78±0.73mg kojic acid/g juice. Thanks to the good biological activity and high content of secondary metabolites, fruit juice of elderberry is a potential functional product, which could prevent the development of certain diseases.