Phenols, Volatile Compounds, Organic Acids and Antioxidant Activity of Strawberry Tree (Arbutus Unedo L.) Fruits Belonging to Five Genotypes Growing in Morocco

ABSTRACT This study aims to identify the individual phenolics and volatile compounds, as well as the organic acids of strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) genotype fruits. The antioxidant activities were also assessed using three methods (DPPH, ABTS and βeta carotene bleaching assays) significant differences (p˂0.05) were observed among all the genotypes. Total phenols varied from 25.37 to 39.06 mg GAE/g dried weight (DW), total flavonoids ranged between 3.30 and 7.07 mg RE/g DW, and anthocyanins varied from 0.15 to 0.64 mg cya-3-glu/100 g DW. Moreover, the antioxidant activities were in the range of 3.33–21.08, 2.25–19.58, and 1.08–13 mg ascorbic acid equivalent/g DW for DPPH, ABTS and βeta carotene bleaching assays, respectively. Seventeen phenolics compounds were identified by HPLC in A. unedo fruits. Gallocatechol and catechin were the most abundant compounds. Among the volatile compounds identified, hexadecanoic acid was the most abundant in all the genotype fruits. The principal component analysis revealed that the first two components formed 66.47% of the total inertia.