Antioxidant Activity and Phytochemical Content of Fresh and Freeze-Dried Lepisanthes fruticosa Fruits at Different Maturity Stages

Antioxidant and phytochemical compounds of fruits can vary widely depending on many factors such as processing and maturity stage as one of the major contributors. Therefore, this study investigated the antioxidant activity and phytochemical attributes of fresh and freeze-dried Lepisanthes fruticosa fruit extracts at eight different maturity stages. The freeze-dried extracts were obtained by lyophilisation using a freeze-dryer. In general, antioxidant activity and phytochemical contents of both fresh (FLF) and freeze-dried (FDLF) extracts showed a decrease with fruit maturation. Among the eight maturity stages developed for L. fruticosa, the lower maturity (unripe) stages exhibited the strongest potential, with stage 1 being the most notable. The FDLF fruit extracts were found to be significantly (P < 0.05) stronger radical scavenger than FLF extracts at all maturity stages tested. The IC50 values of FDLF for the eight maturity stages were more effective, with stage 1 showing the lowest IC50 (1.57 mg/ml). Total phenolic content of FDLF was also significantly (P < 0.05) higher than FLF at all eight stages tested, with the highest also being shown at stage 1 (15848.96 ± 401.82 mg/100 g). On the contrary, FLF extracts displayed significantly (P < 0.05) higher total flavonoid content than FDLF at almost all stages except for 2, 3 and 6. The highest content was shown in stage 1 with 37.35 ± 0.77 mg/100 g. These findings showed that antioxidant activity and phytochemical content of L. fruticosa fruits were significantly affected by processing and maturity. The obtained results are important for the promotion of use of L. fruticosa fruit extracts as a natural antioxidant in functional food production in the future.