The Effect of Ripening Stages on the Accumulation of Polyphenols and Antioxidant Activity of the Fruit Extracts of Species.

The aim of the research was to evaluate the influence of the ripening stage on the accumulation of polyphenols and antioxidant activity in fruits of species. The experiment included two factors: I-four different species (, , , ) and II-three ripening stages. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to analyze the individual phenolic compounds (flavonoids and phenolic acids), and the spectrophotometric method was applied to determine antioxidant activity. The results revealed that the accumulation of polyphenols and antioxidant activity in fruits of species depends on the stage of ripening and species. All studied species fruits had the highest content of total phenolic acid at ripening stage III and the greatest antioxidant activity at ripening stage I. Fully ripe fruits of contained significantly more total flavonoids, whereas contained significantly more total phenolic acids than other investigated species fruits. The significantly highest antioxidant activity was found in fruits at ripening stage I.