Antioxidant and cardioprotective activities of phenolic extracts from fruits of Chilean blackberry Aristotelia chilensis (Elaeocarpaceae), Maqui Carlos L. Ce ´spedes a, * , Mohammed El-Hafidi b , Natalia Pavon b , Julio Alarcon a a Departamento de Ciencias Ba ´ sicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Av. Andre ´s Bello s/n, Casilla 447, Universidad del Bı ´o-Bı ´o, Chilla ´ n, Chile b Departmento de Bioquı ´ mica, Instituto Nacional de Cardiologia ‘‘Ignacio Cha ´ vez’’, Juan Badiano 1, Seccio ´ n XVI, Tlalpan 14080, Mexico D.F., Mexico Received 15 January 2007; received in revised form 29 August 2007; accepted 30 August 2007 Abstract The methanol extract from mature fruits of Aristotelia chilensis (Mol) Stuntz (Elaeocarpaceae) showed antioxidant activities and car- dioprotective effects on acute ischemia/reperfusion performed in rat heart in vivo. This extract protected animals from heart damage by the incidence of reperfusion dysrythmias, and the no-recovery of sinus rhythm. On the other hand, the MeOH extract of the fruit was able to prevent these harmful events in the animal’s heart by diminishing lipid oxidation and reducing the concentration of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), a lipid peroxidation index. In addition, MeOH extract of A. chilensis was evaluated for DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging, crocin radical scavenging, oxygen radical absorption capacity (ORAC), ferric reduc- ing antioxidant power (FRAP), an estimation of lipid peroxidation in liposomes through the inhibition of formation of TBARS. MeOH extract was found to have IC 50 of 1.62 ppm against DPPH and 2.51 ppm against TBARS, compared with the juice, whose IC 50 was 12.1 ppm and 9.58 ppm against DPPH and TBARS formation, respectively. Antioxidant activities of MeOH extract were strongly cor- related with total polyphenol content. Consistent with this finding, MeOH had the greatest ORAC and FRAP values as percentage of activity. These results show that these fruits could be useful as antioxidant, cardioprotective and nutraceutical sources. Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Tannins; Lignans; Flavonoids; Polyphenols; Antioxidant activity; Cardioprotective agent; Aristotelia chilensis; Elaeocarpaceae 1. Introduction Antioxidants are substances that delay the oxidation process, inhibiting the polymerization chain initiated by free radicals and other subsequent oxidizing reactions (Halliwell & Aruoma, 1991). This concept is fundamental to food chemistry, where synthetic antioxidants such as butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) have long been used to preserve the good quality of food by protecting it against oxidation-related deterioration. A growing body of litera- ture points to the importance of natural antioxidants from many plants, which may be used to reduce cellular oxida- tive damage, not only in foods, but also in the human body (Prior et al., 2003). This may provide protection against chronic diseases, including cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, inflammation and cardiovascular disease (Prior & Gu, 2005). Adverse conditions within the environment, such as smog and UV radiation, in addition to diets rich in saturated fatty acids and carbohydrates, increase oxida- tive damage in the body. Given this constant exposure to oxidants, antioxidants may be necessary to counteract chronic oxidative effects, thereby improving the quality of life (Roberts, Gordon, & Walker, 2003). The use of traditional medicine is widespread and plants still present a large source of novel active biological com- pounds with different activities, including anti-inflamma- 0308-8146/$ - see front matter Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2007.08.092 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +56 42 253256; fax: +56 42 203046. E-mail address: cespedes_leonardo@yahoo.com (C.L. Ce ´spedes). www.elsevier.com/locate/foodchem Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Food Chemistry 107 (2008) 820–829 Food Chemistry