Investigation of Mineral Components and Antioxidant Properties of a Healthy Red Fruit: Cornelian Cherry (Cornus mas L.)

Abstract

The mineral components of the foodstuff consumed by an individual are important in thegrowth and development of a human being. In recent years red fruits, because of their potentialbeneficial health effects, are getting attention of both consumers and manufacturers. One of the redfruits, Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas L.), was investigated in terms of both mineral components andantioxidant properties. The mineral components include calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), potassium (K),magnesium (Mg), and zinc (Zn) in this fruit were determined using flame atomic absorptionspectrometry (FAAS). The antioxidant activity tests were applied to the extracts obtained usingdifferent solvents to examine the antioxidant properties of this fruit. Statistical analysis indicatedthat while the best results were obtained from acetone extracts, the lowest results were obtainedfrom water extracts for all antioxidant activity tests (p