The aim of this work was to evaluate some secondary metabolites, antioxidant activity of methanolic leaf extracts of five Ziziphus spina-christi provenances (INRGREF, Tozeur, Degueche, Nafta and Kebelli) and their allelopathic effects on Trigonella foenum-graecum and Lens culinaris. Leaves were collected during 2013 and 2014. Total phenols, flavonoids, tannins and antioxidant activity were evaluated using the Folin ciocalteux, Aluminum trichloride, vanillin and scavenging activity on 22-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical methods, respectively. Total phenols, tannins and flavonoids were present, at levels of 57.41 mg GAE/g DW, 31.98 mg RE/g DW and 14.68 μg CE/g DW, respectively. The high antioxidant activity (0.086 μg/mL) was noted in kebelli provenance (2013). The highest germination, plumule and radicle lengths of tested species were observed in INRGREF provenance. Z. spina-christi leaf extracts may be suggested in foods and pharmaceutical industries. Leaf extracts could also provide a natural herbicide with a positive impact on the environment.

Ziziphus jujuba pulps are very much appreciated by the inhabitants and have been recently exported. This article reports on the chemical composition (amino acids, polyphenols and sugars) of the pulps of four Z. jujuba ecotypes (Choutrana, Mahdia, Mahres and Sfax). The major amino acids identified were proline, aspartic acid and glutamic acid. Among these, proline was the most abundant amino acid (17.4 mol). Considerable differences in total phenolic contents (15.85 mg/L) were found. Predominant phenols identified by using HPLC were rutin (1.09 mg/L) and chlorogenic acid (2.57 mg/100 g). Sugars isolated from Ziziphus pulps were found at a rate of 43.52%. Using HPLC method, three sugars from the pulp extract were identified: glucose, galactose and sucrose. The Mahdia ecotype was the richest in these sugars with 0.45, 136.51 and 113.28 mg/L, respectively.

This work was performed to determine the biochemical composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of leaf extracts collected from four different provenances: Mahdia and Mahres ( Ziziphus jujuba ); Kairouan and Rouhia ( Ziziphus lotus ). Total phenols, flavonoids, tannins contents and antioxidant activity were evaluated using the Folin ciocalteux, Aluminum trichloride, vanillin and scavenging activity on 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals methods, respectively. The antimicrobial activity was evaluated against three bacterial strains ( Escherichia coli , Staphylococcus aureus and klebsiella pneumoniea ) and three fungal strains ( Fusarium culmorum , Fusarium solani and Botrytis cinerea ) , according to well Agar diffusion method. Total phenols and flavonoids were present at levels of 21.98 mg GAE /g DW and 7.80 mg ER/g DW ; respectively in Ziziphus lotus . These levels did not exceeded 13.70 mg GAE /g DW and 6.73 mg ER/g DW for Ziziphus jujuba . The tannin contents were present in equal levels (7.9 mg EC/g DW) in two species . The high antioxidant activity (0.01 µg/ml) was noted in Rouhia provenance. The Ziziphus lotus leaf extracts showed promising efficiency against all tested microorganisms with a zone of inhibition ranging between 22 and 23.5 mm. This study could validate the medicinal potential of Ziziphus specie and explain why tunisian people traditionally use it in medicine to treat several pathologies. Ziziphus leaf extracts may be suggested in foods and pharmaceutical industries. Leaf extracts proved also to be effective against tested microorganisms. So, a n adequate toxicological study must be carried out to verify the possibility of using these plants for fighting microorganisms.

This study aimed to evaluate Pinus halepensis Mill. seeds oil as well as methanolic‐aqueous extract on fatty acid and phenolic's composition as well as antioxidant activities with regard to the cones drying methods: convection and sun methods. The highest amounts of total phenols (14.63 ± 0.05 mg GAE/g DW), flavonoids (3.3 ± 0.02 mg QE/g DW), and condensed tannins (0.36 ± 0.05 mg CE/g DW) were showed in the seeds obtained by sun‐dried method. Methanolic‐aqueous seeds extracts were subjected to LC‐ESI‐MS analysis in order to identify and quantify the phenolic composition. This technique allowed us to identify eleven phenolic compounds: two phenolic acids and nine flavonoid compounds such as cirsiliol, catechin (+), luteolin, and luteolin‐7‐O‐glucoside, which were present in the two studied samples while apigenin, naringenin, and cirsilineol were only identified in the extract obtained from sun‐drying method seeds. The chemical components of the oils were analyzed using GC, and significant differences were found between the two studied seeds oil (p < .05). Furthermore, the antioxidant activities were investigated using DPPH and ABTS.⁺ assays. The results showed that the methanolic‐aqueous extract from seeds dried by sun method had the highest antioxidant activities (0.08 and 0.05 mg/ml, respectively). This study could provide useful information for industry to produce potentially bioactive plant extract.

The goal of this study was to assess the phenolic composition of the various Ziziphus spina-christi root extracts (aqueous, methanlic, ethanolic and acetonic). The highest amounts of total phenols (60.47 mg GEA/g DW) flavonoids (12.04 mg QE/g DW) and tannin (23.98 mg CE/g DW) were showed in the ethanol solvent. Epicatechin contents were detected, using Liquid Chromatography-mass spectrometry, at level of 6 µg/ml. Furthermore, the concentration of the extract required to scavenge 50% of free radicals (CI 50), investigated by means of DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl), ABTS (2,2-azinobis-(3- ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonate) and Fe²⁺ chelating assays, reached levels of 0.41 ± 0.01; 0.33 ± 0.14 and 0.24 ± 0.03, respectively. The toxic potential against Lasioderma serricorne showed the highest insecticidal potential of Ziziphus spina-christi roots extract. The LC₉₅ values were 3.17 and 4.86 µg/insect respectively for the ethanolic and acetonic extract. The present investigation improves the value of Ziziphus spina-christi as resource of epicathechin, which could be used as bioantioxidant and bioinsecticides.

Natural products from plants and their biological potentialities have increased environmental concerns. This study aimed to evaluate the phenolic composition, along with the antioxidant, antimicrobial, and insecticidal activities of Ziziphus spina-christi leaf extracts using LC-MS.