dc.description.abstract | Cherry fruits are known for their wide range of nutritive and bioactive compounds, including
fibers, vitamins, and phytonutrients. Sweet cherry consumption has been associated with
several health benefits against human problems such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer,
diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease. Particularly, cherries contain abundant phenolic compounds
with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties as they exert a protective role
against oxidative stress and free radical damages. However, there is not a specific method to
fully extract all phenolics and other compounds from sweet cherries. Thus, this study aimed to
optimize the extraction of cherries through different extraction procedures (maceration and
ultrasound-assisted extraction) using different solvents (50% EtOH with and without HCl, and
Tris buffer). The resulting cherry fruit extracts were investigated regarding their i) total phenol
content - according to the Folin-Ciocalteu colorimetric method, ii) total protein content -
evaluated using the Bradford protein assay, and iii) antioxidant activity – characterized by
ABTS, DPPH, and FRAP assays. The ultrasound-assisted extraction using 50% EtOH and HCl
(pH=2.3) demonstrated the best results for total phenol content (7.51 mg/L), DPPH inhibition
(23.7%), and FRAP reducing power (24.5 mmol/g). On the contrary, the highest ABTS
scavenging activity was noticed for maceration obtained extract with 50% EtOH and HCl (7.23
mg/mL). Finally, the best protein yield was obtained for cherries when extraction was
performed in 0.1M Tris buffer at pH=11.2 (0.23 mg/mL). The optimization methodology in this
work is used as a screening test for producing bioactive compounds-rich extracts for the food
industry | sr |