Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the total phenolics content (TPC), capacity of scavenging radicals (RSA), chain-breaking capacity (CBA), hydrogen peroxide scavenging capacity (HPS) and the capacity of reducing oxides or reducing capacity (RC) of Jamaican jujube (coolie plum) (Ziziphus mauritiana) during four different maturation and ripening stages. TPC decreased significantly during the four ripening stages but the decrease was more significant during stage 4. RSA of stage 1 and 2 reacted faster and showed the most effective DPPH radical scavenging activity, while stage 4 showed the lowest reaction and was the less effective DPPH radical scavenger. CBA increased during stage 2, decreased significantly during stage 3, then increased again to a value closer to that observed at stage 2. RC increased significantly during stage 2, and then decreased during stage 3 and stage 4. HPS showed similar pattern to the reducing capacity and was quite high during stage 1, but showed a decrease during the stage 3 and increased again during stage 4. Conclusively, the results of this investigation showed interesting antioxidant and scavenging properties of Jamaican jujube (coolie plum) extracts, which could be an interesting health-promoting especially when processed for juice.

Keywords: Antioxidant properties, ripening, scavenging activities, Ziziphus mauritiana.

Graphical Abstract