Evaluation of physicochemical characteristics and antioxidant properties of Elaeagnus angustifolia L

The objective of this study was to evaluate the physical and chemical properties such as total phenol (TP), total flavonoid (TF), total anthocyanin (TA), total antioxidant capacity based on 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and Fe2+ chelating assays in thirty-eight genotypes of Elaeagnus angustifolia L. grown in Iran. The results showed that the range of fruit and seed weight was 1.08-2.69 and 0.31-0.64 g, respectively. Also, the range of antioxidant capacity based on DPPH was 28.59-93.15 %. The highest TP content of peel and pulp of fruit was 1179 and 820.85 mg gallic acid (GAE) per 100 g fresh weight (FW) basis, respectively. The highest TF content of peel and pulp of fruit was observed in Mi2 and U2 genotypes, respectively. Genotype M4 had the highest TA content. According to the correlation, TP had a positive and significant correlation with the antioxidant capacity based on DPPH and FRAP assays, and TF content. The results of factor analysis showed that the five main factors were explained a total of 86.69% of the variance. Also based on cluster analysis, the thirty-eight genotypes were located in 4 main clusters and five locations were located in 2 main clusters. The present research reveals the potential of E. angustifolia L. genotypes studied for improvement of nutritional value through germplasm enhancement programs.