Novel Insights into Corema album Berries: Vibrational Profile and Biological Activity

• Autor(a) principal: Marques, Joana
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Outros Autores: Martin, Daniel, Amado, Ana Margarida, Lysenko, Viktoriya, Osório, Nádia Isabel Almeida, Carvalho, Luís A. E. Batista de, Marques, Maria Paula M., Barroca, Maria João Mendes Cardoso, Silva, Aida Moreira da
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10316/95694; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10091761
• topic: White crowberries; Plant extracts; Antibacterial activity; Nutraceutical; FTIR and Raman spectroscopies

This study reports an evaluation of the biological properties of the edible berries from Corema album, an endemic shrub of the Portuguese coastline, aiming at its use as a nutraceutical. Different methanolic extracts were obtained from the pulp and seed of fresh berries: pulp extract, seed residue, and seed oil (extracted and characterized for the first time). For each of these, the antioxidant activity was assessed, by different methods, as well as the antimicrobial ability. Overall, the seeds were shown to be the most nutraceutical part of the berry since they showed higher antioxidant activity, while the pulp extract displayed a significant antimicrobial capacity against several clinically relevant bacterial strains. Furthermore, the extracts were fully characterized by complementary infrared and Raman spectroscopy, revealing the presence of phenolic acids, polysaccharides, sugars, and triterpenoids in the pulp, high content of unsaturated fatty acids in the seed oil, and significant amounts of phenolics and carotenoids in the seed residue. These results pave the way for a reliable correlation between chemical composition and biological activity, in edible fruit samples.