Seasonal and Diurnal Variation in Leaf Phenolics of Three Medicinal Mediterranean Wild Species: What Is the Best Harvesting Moment to Obtain the Richest and the Most Antioxidant Extracts?

Gori, Antonella; Nascimento, Luana Beatriz; Ferrini, Francesco; Centritto, Mauro; Brunetti, Cecilia

doi:10.3390/molecules25040956

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Seasonal and Diurnal Variation in Leaf Phenolics of Three Medicinal Mediterranean Wild Species: What Is the Best Harvesting Moment to Obtain the Richest and the Most Antioxidant Extracts?

Antonella Gori

^1,2,†,

Luana Beatriz Nascimento

^1,†,

Francesco Ferrini

¹,

Mauro Centritto

and

Cecilia Brunetti

^1,2,*

University of Florence, Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forest (DAGRI), Section Woody Plants, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Florence), Italy

National Research Council of Italy, Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection (IPSP), 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Florence), Italy

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this manuscript.

Academic Editors: Federica Pellati, Laura Mercolini and Roccaldo Sardella

Molecules 2020, 25(4), 956; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25040956

Received: 14 January 2020 / Revised: 10 February 2020 / Accepted: 17 February 2020 / Published: 20 February 2020

(This article belongs to the Collection Phenolic Compounds from Plants: Chemistry, Analysis and Biological Activity)

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Abstract

Mediterranean plants biosynthesize high amounts of polyphenols, which are important health-promoting compounds. Leaf polyphenolic composition changes according to environmental conditions. Therefore, it is crucial to know the temporal variation in their production. This study aimed to: i) evaluate the monthly and daily changes in polyphenols of Phyllirea latifolia, Cistus incanus, and Pistacia lentiscus to identify their best harvesting moment, ii) verify the possible correlations between phenolic production and temperature and irradiation, iii) evaluate their antioxidant capacity using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and hydroxyl radical (OH)scavenging assays. The extracts of leaves harvested at 8:00, 13:00 and 18:00, in May, July, and October for two years were analysed by HPLC-DAD. Both “month” and “time of the day” affected the polyphenolic content in all species. July at 13:00 was the best harvesting moment for all polyphenolic classes of P. latifolia and only for some classes of C. incanus and P. lentiscus. Environmental parameters positively correlated with the polyphenols of C. incanus and P. latifolia, while the antioxidant capacity only varied in this last species, reaching the highest value in July. Results of the study allow to determine the balsamic time for each species. Moreover, the relationship between polyphenols and environmental data can be useful for the cultivation of these plants under controlled conditions. View Full-Text

Keywords: antioxidant capacity; Cistus incanus; DPPH; environmental factors; flavonoids; Phyllirea latifolia; Pistacia lentiscus; polyphenols; seasonality; tannins

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Gori, A.; Nascimento, L.B.; Ferrini, F.; Centritto, M.; Brunetti, C. Seasonal and Diurnal Variation in Leaf Phenolics of Three Medicinal Mediterranean Wild Species: What Is the Best Harvesting Moment to Obtain the Richest and the Most Antioxidant Extracts? Molecules 2020, 25, 956. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25040956

AMA Style

Gori A, Nascimento LB, Ferrini F, Centritto M, Brunetti C. Seasonal and Diurnal Variation in Leaf Phenolics of Three Medicinal Mediterranean Wild Species: What Is the Best Harvesting Moment to Obtain the Richest and the Most Antioxidant Extracts? Molecules. 2020; 25(4):956. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25040956

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gori, Antonella, Luana B. Nascimento, Francesco Ferrini, Mauro Centritto, and Cecilia Brunetti. 2020. "Seasonal and Diurnal Variation in Leaf Phenolics of Three Medicinal Mediterranean Wild Species: What Is the Best Harvesting Moment to Obtain the Richest and the Most Antioxidant Extracts?" Molecules 25, no. 4: 956. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25040956

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Seasonal and Diurnal Variation in Leaf Phenolics of Three Medicinal Mediterranean Wild Species: What Is the Best Harvesting Moment to Obtain the Richest and the Most Antioxidant Extracts?

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