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Abstract: BACKGROUND: Phytochemical profiles of two Brazilian native fruits – pitanga (red and purple) and araçá (yellow and red) – as well as strawberry cultivars Albion, Aromas and Camarosa, blackberry cultivar Tupy and blueberry cultivar Bluegen cultivated in Brazil were characterized for total phenolic content and total anthocyanin content by liquid chromatography coupled to a photodiode array and a quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometer. Radical scavenging, antiherpes and cytotoxic activities of these berry extracts were also evaluated. RESULTS: Blueberry presented the highest total anthocyanin content (1202 mg cyanidin‐O‐glucoside equivalents kg−1 fresh fruit), while strawberry cultivar Aromas presented the highest total phenolic content (13 550 mg gallic acid equivalents kg−1 fresh fruit). Liquid chromatographic–mass spectrometric analysis resulted in the identification of 21 anthocyanins. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report of cyanidin‐O‐glucoside in yellow and red Araçá fruit and the first time eight anthocyanins have been reported in pitanga fruits. DPPH and ABTS assays showed that blueberry cultivar Bluegen, blackberry cultivar Tupy and pitanga (red and purple) showed the most promising antiradical activities, respectively. No relevant cytotoxicity against three cancer cell lines or antiherpes activity was detected under the experimental conditions tested. CONCLUSION: Total anthocyanin content of all fruits had a strong positive correlation with their free radical scavenging activity, suggesting anthocyanins contribute to the antioxidant potential of these fruits. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of phenolic compounds in fruit- and vegetable-rich diets has attracted researchers' attention due to their health-promoting effects. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of purple pitanga ( Eugenia uniflora L.) extract on cell proliferation, viability, mitochondrial membrane potential, cell death and cell cycle in murine activated hepatic stellate cells (GRX). Cell viability by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was significantly decreased on cells treated with 50 and 100 µg ml−1 of purple pitanga extract for 48 and 72 h, and the percentage of dead cell stained with 7-amino-actinomycin D was significantly higher in treated cells. The reduction of cell proliferation was dose dependent, and we also observed alterations on cell cycle progression. At all times studied, GRX cells treated with 50 and 100 µg ml−1 of purple pitanga showed a significant reduction in cellular mitochondrial content as well as a decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential. Furthermore, our results indicated that purple pitanga extract induces early and late apoptosis/necrosis and necrotic death in GRX cells. This is the first report describing the antiproliferative, cytotoxic and apoptotic activity for E. uniflora fruits in hepatic stellate cells. The present study provides a foundation for the prevention and treatment of liver fibrosis, and more studies will be carried to elucidate this effect. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of extracts from aracá ( Psidium cattleianum ), butiá ( Butia eriospatha ), and pitanga ( Eugenia uniflora ) fruits with different flesh colors (i.e., purple, red, and orange), and blackberries ( Rubussp. ;cv.Xavante and Cherokee)collected in the southern region of Brazil.Thecontentof ascorbic acid, total carotenoids, and phenolics were determined. The profile of the phenolic compounds wasassessedbyhigh-performance liquid chromatography combined with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD). The antioxidant activity was determined using the ferric- reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay, 2,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl hydrate (DPPH) assay, total reactive antioxidant potential(TRAP) assay,and total antioxidantreactivity (TAR) assay. The Xavante blackberry and purple-fleshed pitanga showed the highest total phenolic content [816.50 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/100g and 799.80 mg GAE/100g, respectively]. The aracá and red-fleshed pitanga showed the highest carotenoid content (6.27 ug β -caro- tene/g and 5.86 ug β-carotene/g, respectively). The fruits contained several phenolic com- pounds such as quercetin derivatives, quercitrin, isoquercitrin, and cyanidin derivatives, which may contribute differentially to the antioxidant capacity. The highest scavenging activityintheDPPHassaywasfoundforpurple-fleshedpitanga(IC50 36.78mg/L),blackberries [IC50 44.70 (Xavante) and IC50 78.25 mg/L (Cherokee)], and aracá (IC50 48.05 mg/L), which also showed the highest FRAP, followed by orange- and red-fleshed pitanga. Our results revealed that some fruits grown in southern Brazil such as purple-fleshed pitanga, blackberries, and aracá are rich sources of phenolic compounds and have great antioxidant activity [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]