Preliminary studies on the bioactive phytochemicals in extract of Cape gooseberry (Physalis Peruviana L.) fruits and their Products

Abstract

Cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana L.) belongs to family Solanaceae and is reported to have health benefits because of its high antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and fiber (Puente et al., 2011). A study was thus designed to find out the nutraceutical value of the fresh fruit as well as their processed products by identifying the bioactive phytochemicals in different extracts viz., aqueous extract (AEPP), methanolic extract (MEPP), ethanolic extract (EEPP) of the fresh fruit and two products viz., fresh fruit juice (FFPP) and squash (SQPP). The five samples were subjected to Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and spectra were obtained for each sample. The EEPP (Peak maximas recorded at 667.5, 877.3, 1043.7, 1084.7, 1326.5, 1382.8 and 1645.5 cm-1) and SQPP (Peak maximas recorded at 692.5, 670.9, 1032, 1032.0 1240.5, 136.24, 1419.1 and 1639.9 cm-1) showed the presence of maximum number of bioactive compounds as compared to the other samples. This was followed by MEPP (662, 1014.5, 1240.5, 1362.4, 1419.1 and 1644 cm -1) & FFPP (663.1, 687.2, 1058.6, 1237.8, 1368.4 and 1636 cm -1) while AEPP (668.5, 1015.8 and 1636.6 cm-1) showed the minimum peaks. Among the products the SQPP and FFPP were highly correlated showing the presence of similar phytochemicals detected. AEPP was the least efficient method of extraction of the phytochemicals since it showed the minimum absorption maxima peaks indicating a smaller number of compounds extracted. All samples studied have shown a major absorption in the wavelength range of polyphenols (1700-600 cm-1) thus indicating their potential antioxidant capacity.