Wild-growing plant species are sustainable, cost-effective and underexploited sources for bioactive compounds with great nutraceutical potential. In this work, we analysed the fruits of several wild plant species: Sambucus nigra L., Rubia tinctorum L., Phytolacca americana L. and Sambucus ebulus L. Liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry revealed diverse concentrations of phenolic acids, with the highest values observed for rutoside (22.183 µg mL−1) and isoquercitrin (11.663 µg mL−1) in S. nigra L., chlorogenic acid (7.422 µg mL−1) in R. tinctorum L., caftaric acid (4.942 µg mL−1) in P. americana L., and quercitrin (1.380 µg mL−1) and 4-O-caffeoylquinic acid (1.196 µg mL−1) in S. ebulus L. The spectrophotometric analysis showed that S. nigra L. had the highest concentration of total phenols (14.21 mg GAE g−1 FW) and the highest flavonoid content (8.07 mg QE g−1 FW). The lowest values were recorded for R. tinctorum L. (total phenols) and P. americana L. (flavonoids). The antioxidant activity was generally high, with the lowest value of 76.08% for S. nigra L. and over 90% for all other species, peaking at 93.25% for P. americana L. The Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity (TEAC) assay showed a similar pattern. S. ebulus L. and R. tinctorum L. exhibited the highest carbohydrate content and protein solubility, respectively. P. americana L. fruits had the highest ascorbic acid concentration, 0.136 mg g−1 FW. These results highlight the remarkable nutraceutical potential of certain wild fruits, identifying them as rich and cost-effective sources of bioactive compounds, particularly antioxidants, with promising perspectives for future studies on their therapeutic potential.
Lungoci et al. (Tue,) studied this question.