Selection of Superior Quality Annona Species by Means of Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant Capacity

Present study evaluated different parts of (leaves, seeds, bark, roots, ripen fruits, unripen fruits) 6 species of Annona (Annona cherimola, Annona muricata L., Annona reticulata L., Annona squamosa L (green and red varieties) and Annona glabra L. by means of total antioxidant capacity (TAC), total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) in order to select superior quality species of Annona for commercial cultivation. TAC, TPC and TFC were determined using Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) assay, Folin-Ciocalteu method and colorimetric method, respectively. It was observed that all tested parts of all tested species contained appreciable amount of TAC, TPC and TFC. Significantly higher TPC were recorded in roots of custard apple (82.08±0.74a mg GAE/g DW) followed by roots of soursop (73.10±0.72b mg GAE/g DW), leaves of soursop (55.18±0.18a mg GAE/g DW) respectively. It was interesting to see that the highest TAC was observed in root extracts of soursop (194.98 mg TE/g DW followed by bark extracts of pond apple (134.37 mg TE/g DW) and leaf extracts of soursop (122.67 mg TE/g DW respectively. Total flavonoid content of leaf extracts of six different species were varied as soursops>sugar apple R>pond apple>sugar apple G> custard apple >cherimoya respectively. Strong positive correlations were observed between TAC values and TPCs of leaves, seeds, barks and roots (R² = 0.78; p<0.001). Based on the results of bioactive molecules present in different species and their parts, it could be concluded that soursop and custard apple could be recommended as superior quality Annona species for commercial cultivation.