Crataegus fruit is one of most important fruits in Tunisian flora. Some fruits of this genus are edible. This study was undertaken in order to examine the benefits of these fruits in human health and their composition of antioxidants including total polyphenol, flavonoids, proanthocyanidins content, and total anthocyanins. The antioxidative properties of the ultrasonic methanolic extract were assessed by different in vitro methods such as the FRAP, DPPH, and β-carotene/linoleic acid assay. We concluded that peel fraction of red fruits possessed relatively high antioxidant activity and might be a rich source of natural antioxidants in comparison with the pulp and seed fruit extract. The results also showed that hawthorn yellow fruit presents lower amounts of phenolic content, absence of anthocyanins, and less antioxidant capacity. Most of peel and seed fractions were stronger than the pulp fractions in antioxidant activity based on their DPPH IC50, FRAP values, and results of β-carotene/linoleic acid. The total phenolic compounds contents were also highly correlated with the DPPH method and the FRAP assay. 1. Introduction Dietary phenolic compounds have received much attention during the recent years due to their antioxidant and other biological properties imparting possible benefits to human health [1, 2]. Crude extracts of fruits, herbs, and vegetables are rich sources of polyphenols. These compounds include phenolic acids (hydroxybenzoic acids and hydroxycinnamic acids), flavonoids (flavonols, flavones, flavanols, flavanones, isoflavones, anthocyanins, and proanthocyanidins), vitamins, and carotenoids. These bioactive molecules can delay or inhibit the oxidation of lipids and other molecules by inhibiting the initiation or propagation of oxidative chain reactions [3]. Antioxidant activity of phenolic compounds is mainly due to their redox properties, which can play an important role in absorbing and neutralizing free radicals [4]. In order to receive a reliable picture of antioxidants content in Crataegus monogyna and Crataegus azarolus fruits extract, total polyphenols, total flavonoids, proantnocyanidins content, and total anthocyanins content were determined quantitatively using spectrophotometer methods. It was also shown that the measure of antioxidant capacity in natural products by only one assay is often not reliable; therefore, in this investigation, we used three complementary assays such as DPPH radical scavenging assay, ferric-reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) and -carotene linoleic acid assay to check the antioxidant activity of these
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