ABSTRACT:
Pistacia species are used in food industry and as medicinal for the remedy for various diseases. Chemical studies on Pistacia genus have led to discovering diverse secondary metabolites in addition to high level of vitamins and minerals. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of experimental variables, such as solvent composition, time and temperature on total phenolic content and DPPH activity of P. palaestina fruits cultivated in Syria at three maturity stages. Antioxidant activities and total phenolic content values were estimated using (2,2’-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) DPPH reagent and Folin Ciocalteu reagent methods respectively. The highest total phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity were found in unripe fruits with 6g/100g and 85.67% respectively. The optimum extraction solvents for phenolic recovery and antioxidant capacity were methanol 60% and acetone 60% respectively. Changes in both temperature (25, 40, 60, 80°C) and time (15, 30, 45, 60 min) had no significant influence on TPC and AA% of Pistacia extracts. Therefore, phenolic compounds could be extracted in a short time and low temperature and could be used as antioxidant agents.