The 2011 ASHS Annual Conference

From the 150 existing species of Crataegus spp. (Rosaceae), thirteen are found in Mexico, some of them endemic. Traditional medicine has used the plant in multiple ways, e.g. heart tonic, hypertension control, stomach pain and circulatory trouble reliever. In reference to these uses, in China and some countries of Europe a growing economic activity has been developed around the antioxidant content of the tejocote plant in the form of extracts and syrups which justify their medicinal properties. However, as per the Mexican species, both the content and the antioxidant activity are unknown, so research on the Mexican wide diversity and genotypic variability should be enhanced in order to explore more about the fruit characteristics and to determine the nutraceutical and functional properties of the extracted products (antioxidants), thus contributing to the efficient use of the plant and to new marketing alternatives for the producer. Based on the above, this piece of research was aimed at evaluating the antioxidant activity (DPPH method) and the content of phenolic compounds and total flavonoids of twenty tejocote fruit accessions from the Germplasm Bank of the Universidad Autónoma Chapingo (92 accessions). Results showed that seventeen out of the twenty fruit accessions under study presented a higher content of phenolic compounds (52 - 558 mg 100 g^-1 fresh fruit weight) in comparison to the one described for some fruits (˃ 180 mg en 100 g of  a fresh fruit sample). No tendency was registered of the phenolic content and flavonoids in relation to the origin and species of the accessions. Accessions 18, 22, 55 and 100 from the Mexican states of Chiapas and Puebla showed a higher antioxidant activity, since a lower concentration was required to inhibit 50% of the DPPH radical scavenging activity. However, accessions 22 and 25 presented the highest phenolic concentrations, while the highest level of total flavonoids was observed in accession 100.