The nutritional evaluation of Ruthana date fruits (Phoenix dactylifera L.) with its role in controlling free radicals and anti-inflammatory activities

In this study, the polyphenol content was measured and the potential therapeutic value of the methanolic extract of Ruthana dates grown in Saudi Arabia was analyzed. The results showed that the Ruthana dates contain a high percentage of phenols and flavonoids, reaching 119.2 %, and 55.6 %, respectively. The antioxidant activity was also measured by several methods. The methanol extract of Ruthana showed significant effectiveness in inhibiting free radicals in the DPPH test. The highest inhibition rate was (79%) with an IC50 value of (3.97 +/- 0.21 mg Trolox/g plant), and (3.9035 +/- 0.380 mu g/ml) on nitric oxide radical. The FRAP and ABTS tests showed higher sensitivity to antioxidants with IC50 values (4.08 +/- 0.26 mg of Trolox/ g of plant extract, and 4.18 +/- 0.26 mg of TEAC/ g of plant extract), respectively. The antioxidant activity was significantly correlated with the anti-inflammatory activity, the methanolic extract showed activity in preventing heat-catalyzed protein denaturation with a ratio of (74%), and IC50 (3.835 +/- 0.380 mu g/ml), and at RBC'S membrane stabilization the effectiveness of the extract reached (68%) with IC5 value (6.215 +/- 0.238 mu g/ml). The results showed a concordance between the phenolic content and the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. Accordingly, the fruits of Ruthana dates constitute a promising possibility for isolating the active compounds and introducing them into the pharmaceutical industries in the future. (c) 2022 The Authors. Published by IASE. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).