Functional components, alkaloid and saponin contents and antioxidant activity of Philippine grown fruits

The increasing cost of health and wellness led people to look for alternative ways of keeping oneself fit through naturally occurring compounds found in fruits and vegetables. These compounds are said to aid in the prevention of cancer, cardio vascular diseases, hypertension and diabetes among others. The study aimed to evaluate the presence of these compounds in fruits grown locally in the Philippines. Several locally grown fruits namely chico, dragonfruit, lanzones, longan, star fruit, mangosteen, banana, papaya, bignay, kamatsile, yambo, siniguelas, pomegranate, honeydew, melon, watermelon, atis, guyabano, citrus, pomelo, strawberry, macopa, black mulberry, canistel, and mango were collected and analyzed for total phenolics content, flavonoids, tannins, antioxidant activity, saponins and alkaloid contents using colometric assays. Results showed that chico, kamachile, canistel, siniguelas and black mulberry have relatively high amount of total phenols while strawberry, dragon fruit, calamansi, pomelo and dalandan have low amount. Fruits that expressed high antioxidant activity are yambo, bignay, camachile, canistel and siniguelas while low antioxidant activity was exhibited by starfruit, chico, lanzones, dragonfruit and mangosteen. For saponins, duhat, papaya, yambo and dragonfruit have high amount while watermelon, siniguelas, starfruit, lanzones and longan have low. Flavonoids were high in bignay, chico, duhat and guyabano but are low in longan, yambo, dragonfruit, watermelon and honeydew. Tannins in kamachile, chico and macopa are high but low in dragonfruit, guyabano, watermelon and atis. Nine fruits, namely papaya, starfruit, lanzones, longan, dragonfruit, pomegranate, canistel, macopa and black mulberry were screened for alkaloid and all but black mulberry indicated its presence. The results proved that locally grown fruits are good sources of natural compounds like phenolic compounds and antioxidants that give better health.