Chemical Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Chaenomeles Maulei Fruit Juice

Chaenomeles maulei is the name of the cultivar of Chaenomeles japonica, which was introduced in Europe. The present study aimed to investigate the chemical composition and the antioxidant activity of Chaenomeles maulei fruit juice (CMFJ). The ingredients of the juice sample were measured by spectrophotometric, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gravimetric methods. The antioxidant activity was measured by the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) and hydroxyl radical averting capacity (HORAC) assays. The results showed that CMFJ was extremely rich in polyphenolic substances, amongst which the highest was the concentration of procyanidin oligomers, followed by phenolic acids (vanillic > caffeic > chlorogenic > neochlorogenic > p-coumaric > ellagic > ferulic > 4-dihydroxy-benzoic) and flavonoids (epicatechin > catechin > quercetin-3-β-glucoside > quercetin > rutin > naringin > kaempferol > myricetin). The sour taste of the juice and its low pH were due to the high content of organic acids (malic > quinic > citric > shikimic > ascorbic > oxalic). The carbohydrates were presented by glucose > fructose > galactose > xylose > rhamnose > arabinose. The antioxidant activity measured by ORAC and HORAC was very high. It could be attributed to the high content of polyphenolics in the juice.