Phytochemical Screening and Biological Activity of Extract Berries of Black Currant ( Ribes nigrum L.)

The objective of this study was to identify and quantify phenolic compounds, antioxidant and antimicrobial activity in extract of berries of seven black currant cultivars (‘Ben Lomond’, ‘Ben Sarek’, ‘Titania’, ‘Čačanska Crna’, ‘Tisel’, ‘Tiben’ and ‘Tsema’). High performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) technique was used to establish the profile of phenolic compounds. Antioxidant properties were evaluated using different methods, including total antioxidant capacity, DPPH and hydroxyl radicals scavenging activities, as well as inhibition of lipid peroxidation. The highest amounts of phenolics (15.0 mg GAE/g), flavonoids (5.25 mg RU/g) and antioxidant capacity (12.4 mg AA/g) were found in the cultivar ‘Čačanska Crna’, whereas the other cultivars exhibited variability in the studied parameters. The fruits of black currant contained high concentrations of flavonols and phenolic acids. The main phenolic compounds were quercetin and caffeic acid. All explored extracts exhibited strong scavenging activity against DPPH radicals, which ranges from 56.19 μg/mL (‘Titania’) to 61.17 μg/mL (‘Tisel’). The antimicrobial activity was tested using broth dilution procedure for determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration ( MIC ). The MIC s were determined for 8 selected strains. All extracts showed strong antimicrobial activity, in the range between 50.65 μg/mL and 166.38 μg/mL. Black currant fruit extract, rich in phenolic compounds and with strong antioxidant activity can be used as natural antioxidant in food and pharmaceutical industries.