Abstract

Black chokeberries (Aronia melanocarpa (Michx.) Elliot) are species, the fruit of which are considered to be one of the most valuable sources of phenolic substances and the research in the field of the fruit utilization as a food supplement is more than topical. Nevertheless, as far as this species is concerned, in particular cultivars there are differences which are caused by both their origin and genetic predispositions. Therefore, the aim of our measurement was to compare five widely grown cultivars of this plant, namely ´Aron´ which is Danish in origin, ´Fertödi´ which is Hungarian in origin, ´Hugin´ which is of Swedish origin, ´Nero´ which is of Czech origin and  ´Viking´ which is Finnish in origin. The highest contents of total phenolics (TPC) were observed in the cultivar ´Viking´ with the value of 12.85 grams of gallic acid/kg FM and in the cultivar ´Nero´ the value reached 11.12 grams of gallic acid/kg FM. Furthermore, in both mentioned cultivars the values of total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were the highest. The correlation coefficient between TPC and TAC was r² = 0.943. The content of chlorogenic and neochlorogenic acid showed an influence on TAC (r² = 0.788 and r² = 0.940). For comparison, scavenging activity of reactive oxygen species (superoxide anion, hydroxyl radical and nitric oxide) was determined by using 25% methanolic extracts of fruit of particular cultivars. In addition, antioxidant potential was assessed using the rat liver slice model. Similarly, the highest values of scavenging activity were found in the cultivars ´Viking´ and ´Nero´ which seem to be most promising for further utilization in alimentary and pharmaceutical practices.

Key words: Chokeberry, phenolics, antioxidant capacity, ROS, lipid peroxidation.