Bioactive content and antioxidant capacity of some plants and fruits grown in Türkiye

Recently, some edible plants and fruits have undergone extensive research to identify potential health effects arising from their valuable nutritional and bioactive properties. The present study aims to investigate the phenolic compounds of nine edible plants and fruits throughout the gastrointestinal digestion model by comparing their total content and antioxidant activity. Of the species studied, Eremurus spectabilis and Gundelia tournefortii had the lowest total phenolic content, whereas Prunus armeniaca showed the highest value of 1026 ± 164 mg GAE/100 g. Except for Prunus armeniaca, the total phenolic contents of all samples were increased following gastric digestion, while the total flavonoid contents were decreased. Similarly, the DPPH scavenging activities of the Celtis tournefortii, Crocus cancellatus subsp. damascenus, and Gundelia tournefortii var. tournefortii samples increased remarkably after gastric digestion by 70-fold, ~11-fold, and ~4-fold, respectively. The cupric-reducing antioxidant capacity assay showed that all samples except Prunus armeniaca, Morus alba, and Rheum ribes had increased antioxidant activity following gastric digestion, which was observed to decrease after intestinal digestion. It can be concluded that the total phenolic content of some edible plants and fruits collected from the eastern Anatolia region of Türkiye yielded relatively valuable results, and controlled dietary intake of these plants may have the potential to show positive effects on health due to their high antioxidant activity.