**2. Preparation of aqueous extracts from sea buckthorn and gooseberry**

Plants biosynthesize phytochemicals to protect themselves from insect attacks and plant diseases. Phytochemicals ("Phyto" is the Greek word for plant) are plant chemicals with no nutritional value, non-essential nutrients, and with disease preventive properties. Some of the most common phytochemicals are lycopene (found in tomatoes), flavonoids (found in fruits),

Species belonging even to the same genus can differ one from another in different proportions and sometimes these differences are subtle and extremely difficult to determine. Therefore, new phytochemical methods quickly developed coming in addition to those that were already

• *antioxidant*: protect human cells from oxidative stress thus considerably reducing the risk of

• *hormonal action*: isoflavones are able to imitate human estrogens, reducing the symptoms

• *antibacterial*: can be used as alternative therapy against infections caused by different

• *physical action*: many phytochemicals physically attach to cell walls thus preventing the

Sea buckthorn (*Hippophae rhamnoides* L.), an ancient plant with modern attributes, has numerous pharmacological effects: cardioprotective, inhibits platelet aggregation, lowers the levels of cholesterol and blood pressure, and provides antioxidant activity. The berries have an orangeyellowish color (see **Figure 1a**) and are an important source of vitamin C and A, phenolic compounds (especially flavonoids), and phytosterols [11, 12]. The mineral content (whether it's the fruit itself or the juice) is another important factor, which comes to complete all the beneficial properties of sea buckthorn: five essential minerals (calcium, iron, magnesium, sodium, and

manganese) and four trace elements (chromium, vanadium, selenium, and cobalt) [13].

Gooseberries (*Ribes grossularia*) are generally divided into two groups, namely European (*Ribes grossularia* var. *uva-crispa*) and American (*Ribes hirtellum*) [14]. The fruits (**Figure 1b**) contain

There are many known phytochemicals, and each has its own possible action [8–10]:

and isoflavones (found in soy) [4, 5].

162 Phytochemicals - Source of Antioxidants and Role in Disease Prevention

developing numerous types of cancer;

known and applied [6, 7].

of osteoporosis;

adhesion of pathogens.

**Figure 1.** (a) Sea buckthorn and (b) gooseberry.

bacteria;

Sea buckthorn (*Hippophae rhamnoides* L.) and gooseberry (*Ribes grossularia*) are bought readily dried from local natural shops and are further used to prepare aqueous extracts using a method that involves the following steps (**Figure 2**): grinding the dried fruits into a fine powder, weighting an exact amount of powder, and extracting it using a determined volume of distilled water at a constant temperature of 4°C.

The cold infusion takes place in sealed "French press" type coffee filters (**Figure 3**), one for every fruit involved in this research [17].

**Figure 2.** Preparation of sea buckthorn and gooseberry aqueous extracts.

**Figure 3.** "French press" type coffee filters used to prepare the aqueous extracts.

The two extracts were left to incubate for 24 h so that as much of sea buckthorn and gooseberry as possible could be transferred to the aqueous extracts. The aqueous extracts thus prepared were separated, filtered, and the volumes of the resulted aqueous extracts were measured. An additional vacuum filtration was carried out so that all debris were removed from the aqueous extracts.

The sea buckthorn aqueous extract and the gooseberry extract were kept in the refrigerator for more than 12 weeks for further use, without any alteration.

The extractive value (yield percentage) of the sea buckthorn and gooseberry samples were weighted before and after the preparation of the aqueous extracts and the results are presented in **Table 1** [18]:

$$\text{Extract yield } \%= \left[ \text{W}\_1/\text{W}\_2 \right] \times 100\tag{1}$$

where W<sup>1</sup>

**gooseberry**

lows [23]:

world.

volume of distilled water (**Table 2**).

from sea buckthorn and gooseberry [21, 22].

**3.1. Qualitative screening of carbohydrates**

**a.** *Monosaccharides*: glucose, fructose, and galactose;

gooseberry aqueous extracts are fully described in **Table 3**.

cipitate is obtained from gooseberry aqueous extract.

*3.1.1. General screening of carbohydrates*

**b.** *Oligosaccharides*: sucrose, lactose, and maltose; **c.** *Polysaccharides*: starch, glycogen, and dextrin.

= net powder weight (g) resulted after the aqueous extraction and W2

Qualitative Analysis of Phytochemicals from Sea Buckthorn and Gooseberry

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.77365

der weight (g) used for the preparation of sea buckthorn and gooseberry aqueous extracts. The volume of the resulted aqueous extracts was measured (mL) and compared to the initial

**3. Qualitative screening of phytochemicals from sea buckthorn and** 

the amount in which they are present in different aqueous extracts.

Different qualitative phytochemical analyses are known that allow, by using standard analytical techniques, the determination of chemical groups, or compounds in aqueous extracts from different plants. These qualitative tests are based on color or precipitation reactions as a positive response to the presence of those specific chemical compounds [19, 20]. All the color reactions allow only determining the presence or absence of various chemical groups and not

Standard qualitative methods are used to analyze qualitatively the aqueous extract prepared

In nature, there are numerous carbohydrate materials that can be generally classified as fol-

Carbohydrates are usually neutral, water-soluble chemical compounds, but there are some exceptions and some, such as pectic acid, gluconic acid, or alginic acid, are acidic in the living

There are different standard phytochemical methods used for the qualitative screening of carbohydrates found in aqueous extracts [24]. The results obtained for sea buckthorn and

Experimental: 1 ml Molisch reagent (a solution of α-naphthol in ethanol) is added to 2 ml aqueous extract and few drops of concentrated sulfuric acid are slowly dripped and the resulted solution is shaken carefully. The appearance of a violet ring at the interface of the

In the case of sea buckthorn aqueous extract, the solution turns purple-red and a brown pre-

two liquids indicates the presence of carbohydrates in the aqueous extracts.

= total pow-

165


**Table 1.** Quantities of dry fruit before and after the aqueous extractions.


The pH was measured for the two aqueous extracts and the value was 6.5 for sea buckthorn as well as for gooseberry aqueous extracts.

**Table 2.** Volume of resulted aqueous extracts.

where W<sup>1</sup> = net powder weight (g) resulted after the aqueous extraction and W2 = total powder weight (g) used for the preparation of sea buckthorn and gooseberry aqueous extracts.

The volume of the resulted aqueous extracts was measured (mL) and compared to the initial volume of distilled water (**Table 2**).
