Phenolic profile and antioxidant activity of the Algerian ripe date palm fruit (Phoenix dactylifera)

The aim of this study was to determine the phenolic profile of seven different varieties of ripe date palm fruit (Phoenix dactylifera) from Algeria by LC-DAD-MS (ESI+), to investigate their respective antioxidant activities by the DPPH. method and to estimate their phenolic content using the Folin-Ciocalteu method. The total phenolic content was in the range of 2.49 +/- 0.01 to 8.36 +/- 0.60 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE) per 100 g fresh fruit. This fruit was shown to possess an antioxidant activity, giving values of antiradical efficient (AE) from 0.08 +/- 0.00 to 0.22 +/- 0.00. The phenolic contents and the antiradical efficiencies of the different varieties were highly correlated (R-2 = 0.975). All the varieties were found to contain mainly p-coumaric, ferulic and sinapic acids and some cinnamic acid derivatives. Three different isomers of 5-o-caffeoylshikimic acid were detected. Different types of flavonoids were identified, mainly flavones, flavanones and flavonol glycosides. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.