Assessment of Chemical and Antioxidant Properties of Fresh and Dried Rosehip (Rosa canina L.)

This work aimed to evaluate the nutritional and functional properties of rosehip from Serbia. In respect to that, the content of twenty-three elements in the rosehip along with the soil were determined by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy and the bioaccumulation factor (BAF) was calculated. The total dry matter, water activity, and the contents of vitamin C, total phenolics and flavonoids were determined. The antioxidant ability of fresh and dried samples was evaluated using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay. The obtained extracts were analyzed by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection and gas chromatography - mass spectrometry techniques. In addition, assessment of the impact of thermal treatment on the chemical composition of rosehip was observed. The study revealed that the most abundant elements in rosehip were K, Ca, Mg, P and S with 2963.0, 1820.0, 709.0, 495.0 and 289.8 mg/kg, respectively. The highest BAF values in the system rosehip/soil were for S, K and P. Contents of ascorbic acid, total phenolics, total flavonoids and the antioxidant activity were reduced after the drying process by 56.3%, 20.4%, 31.3%, 21.9%, respectively. Nevertheless, dried rosehip was still a rich source of bioactive compounds with significant antioxidant activity. The presented results support traditional use of rosehip as food with health and nutritional benefits.