Influence of ripeness stage on the bioactive compounds’ contents and antioxidant activities of Solanum anguivi Lam. fruits accessions

Solanum anguivi Lam. fruits (SALF) possess bioactive compounds, such as phenolics, alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, and vitamin C, that are beneficial for preventing oxidative stress-related diseases. It has been documented that ripeness stage influences the nutritional quality of fruits. However, there is limited information on the effect of the ripeness stages (unripe, yellow, orange and red) on the bioactive compounds' contents (BCC) and antioxidant activity (AA) of SALF. We investigated the effect of ripening on the BCC and AA of different SALF accessions. Spectrophotometry was used to determine SALF's total contents of phenolics, flavonoids, saponins, vitamin C, and AA and gravimetry for total alkaloids. The AA was determined as free radical scavenging activity (FRSC) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC). The total phenolics (7.6–22.6 mg gallic acid equivalent/g DW), flavonoids (1.3–4.1 mg quercetin equivalent (QE)/g DW), saponins (44.8–152.5 mg diosgenin equivalent/g DW), vitamin C (2.2–6.4 mg ascorbic acid equivalent/g DW), alkaloids (141.2–296.9 mg/g DW), FRSC (1.5–66.2 %) and TAC (0.1–14.2 mg QE/g DW) significantly differed among the ripeness stages. Fruits in the unripe stage were rich in phenolics, flavonoids, and AA; in the red stage in alkaloids and vitamin C; and in the orange stage, in saponins and flavonoids. The AA had strong positive correlations with total flavonoids and phenolics (r = 0.72 and 0.81, respectively) and a moderate negative correlation with total alkaloids (r = −0.67). Overall, unripe stage fruits had the highest AA and total phenolics and thus may have the highest health-promoting properties. Botanists and farmers may, therefore, focus on harvesting and trading SALF to markets/consumers while still unripe.