Chemical Constituents of 𝐷𝑜𝑣𝑦𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑦𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎 (A. Rich.) Warb Fruits and Their Antioxidant Effects

The antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content of extracts from ripe Dovyalis abyssinica fruits were examined in this work. The fruits’ chemistry was further detailed after isolation and purification studies. Methanol and ethyl acetate extracts yielded 921.79 ± 1.63×10-³ mg GAE/100g and 517.95 ± 1.4×10-³ mg GAE/100g phenolic content. In contrast, the methylene chloride and hexane extracts gave 261.54 ± 1.0×10-3 mg GAE/100g and 24.36 ± 8.2×10-3 mg GAE/100g, respectively. From these extracts, data on the IC50 of the four extracts showed significantly higher antioxidant capacity in the methanol extract (4.4 μg/mL) than that of the ethyl acetate, methylene chloride, and hexane extracts (8.4 μg/mL, 28.8 μg/mL, and 55.8 μg/mL, respectively). Phytochemical analysis gave three known compounds: betulinic acid (1), 3,4-bis(4-hydroxybenzoyl)-1,5-anhydro-D-glucitol l (2), and sitosterol (3) via NMR spectroscopic techniques. The nutritional potential of these fruits was validated by their chemical profile, providing a solid foundation for their future exploitation. The three compounds are new reports, specifically from the fruits of D. abyssinica. The anhydroglucitol was particularly interesting, as it is a phenol capable of antioxidant activity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the second time that this compound has been reported through this study.