Abstract

The characterization of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) genetic resources in Turkey may help to increase their use in breeding programmers worldwide, as Turkey is the centre of origin of sweet cherry. In the Malatya region, cherry leaves are gathered in April and May, fresh and dried used for stuffing. Components of cherry trees have been used as traditional herbal remedies for various diseases. These components are known to possess antioxidative effects. However, the mechanisms underlying cherry tree component-mediated antioxidative effects remain largely unknown. This study focused on cherry 0-900 Ziraat (Malatya Dalbastı) leaves methanol extract (CLME) and examined antioxidant capacity and DNA damage protecting activity. The antioxidant capacity of  these extracts were evaluated using different antioxidant tests, including reducing power, free radical scavenging, hydroxyl radical scavenging, hydrogen peroxide scavenging, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and ABTS radical scavenging, deoxyribose assay, β-Carotene bleaching assay and metal chelating activities. The content of total phenolic compounds in CLME was determined using Folin-Ciocalteus reagent and compared with standard antioxidants butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), Trolox and α-tocopherol. CLME showed a concentration-dependent free radical scavenging capacity and protective DNA strand scission by OHË™ on pBR322 super coiled plasmid DNA (95 to 97%). Total phenolic effect on DNA cleavage CLME at 400 µg/ml exhibited significant protecting activity against the compounds in the CLME and was determined as gallic acid equivalent 132.17 meq/g dried leaves.

Key words: Cherry 0-900 ziraat (Malatya dalbastı), antioxidant activity, radical scavenging ability, DNA damage, phenolic compounds.