Seasonal, gender and regional variations in total phenolic, flavonoid, and condensed tannins contents and in antioxidant properties from Pistacia atlantica ssp. leaves

Figures & data

Table 1. Average monthly temperature (T), day length (DL) and visible light length (LVL) in Laghouat and Ain-oussera during 2010.

Variable	Region	April	May	June	July	August	September	October
T (°C)	Laghouat	19	20	28	32	31	25	19
	Ain oussera	13	15	21	27	26	21	16
DL (h)	Laghouat	13.01	13.54	14.23	14.11	13.25	12.23	11.21
	Ain oussera	13.03	13.58	14.28	14.15	13.28	12.24	11.20
LVL (h)	Laghouat	13.52	14.49	15.21	15.07	14.17	13.13	12.11
	Ain oussera	13.55	14.54	15.27	15.13	14.21	13.14	12.10

Figure 1. Monthly variation in the total phenolic contents.

Table 2. Total phenolic contents in P. atlantica leaves harvested in different months from Laghouat and Ain oussera regions, expressed as mg gallic acid quivalents (mg GAE)/g dry leaf weight.

Season	Month	LM ± SD (n = 3)	LF ± SD (n = 3)	OM ± SD (n = 3)	OF ± SD (n = 3)
Spring	April	136^a ± 4	124^b ± 10	258^d ± 8	151 ± 8
	May	208^c ± 8	228^d ± 21	172^bc ± 15	144 ± 13
Summer	June	173^b ± 13	169^c ± 13	188^c ± 6	154 ± 15
	July	144^a ± 10	138^bc ± 17	135^a ±13	131 ± 15
	August	129^a ± 16	128^b ± 19	135^a ± 8	125 ± 23
Autumn	September	152^a ± 10	79^a ± 13	155^ab ± 24	125 ± 7
	October	130^a ± 5	112^b ± 30	130^a ± 10	137 ± 17

Values in one column followed by the same superscript do not differ significantly according to SNK post hoc test. Superscripts a→ b→ c: indicate increasing concentrations.

Figure 2. Monthly variation in the flavonoid content.

Table 3. Flavonoid content in P. atlantica leaves, harvested in different months from Laghouat and Ain oussera regions, expressed as mg quercetin equivalents (mg QE)/g dry leaf weight.

Season	Month	LM ± SD (n = 3)	LF ± SD (n = 3)	OM ± SD (n = 3)	OF ± SD (n = 3)
Spring	April	0.95^ab ± 0.06	2.81^c ± 0.88	2.30^c ± 0.16	1.30^bc±0.13
	May	0.65^a ± 0.10	2.46^bc ± 0.24	1.47^b ± 0.10	1.51^c ± 0.14
Summer	June	1.44^b ± 0.29	2.36^bc ± 0.22	1.94^bc ± 0.71	1.90^d ± 0.11
	July	1.28^ab ± 0.06	2.00^bc ± 0.23	1.77^bc ± 0.09	1.12^b ± 0.14
	August	1.95^c ± 0.50	0.93^a ± 0.12	1.26^ab ± 0.13	1.53^c ± 0.25
Autumn	September	1.10^ab ± 0.30	1.43^ab ± 0.43	1.35^ab ± 0.20	1.29^bc ± 0.18
	October	1.25^ab ± 0.25	2.13^bc ± 0.26	0.72^a ± 0.17	0.73 ^a± 0.03

Values in one column followed by the same superscript do not differ significantly according to SNK post hoc test. Superscripts a→ b→ c: indicate increasing concentrations.

Figure 3. Monthly variation in condensed tannins content.

Table 4. Condensed tannin contents in P. atlantica leaves, harvested in different months from Laghouat and Ain oussera regions, expressed as mg catechin equivalents (mg CAE)/g dry leaf weight.

Season	Month	LM ± SD (n = 3)	LF ± SD (n = 3)	OM ± SD (n = 3)	OF ± SD (n = 3)
Spring	April	1.10^a ± 0.22	3.19^c ± 0.94	1.89^a ± 0.14	0.66^a ± 0.06
	May	3.00^c ± 0.23	1.72^b ± 0.39	0.87^b ± 0.09	0.50^a ± 0.05
Summer	June	1.94^b ± 0.50	3.51^c ± 0.48	1.92^c ± 0.49	2.82^c ± 0.68
	July	1.01^a ± 0.37	0.56^a ± 0.13	0.29^a ± 0.10	1.62^b ± 0.12
	August	2.39^b ± 0.17	0.93^ba ± 0.38	0.32^a ± 0.04	1.68^b ± 0.18
Autumn	September	1.35^a ± 0.16	0.39^a ± 0.03	0.40^a ± 0.04	2.00^b ± 0.47
	October	2.31^b ± 0.18	0.79^ba ± 0.09	0.80^b ± 0.05	1.63^b ± 0.16

Values in one column followed by the same superscript do not differ significantly according to SNK post hoc test. Superscripts a→ b→ c: indicate increasing concentrations.

Figure 4. Monthly variation in the DPPH scavenging activity.

Table 5. The monthly variation in the DPPH scavenging activity in P. atlantica leaves which were collected in Laghouat and Ain oussera regions, expressed as mg ascorbic acid equivalent (mg AAE)/g dry leaf weight.

Season	Month	LM ± SD (n = 3)	LF ± SD (n = 3)	OM ± SD (n = 3)	OF ± SD (n = 3)
Spring	April	349^bc ± 14	445^ef ± 20	605^b ± 17	536^cd ± 27
	May	474^d ± 19	347^b ± 12	596^b ± 12	510^bc ± 15
Summer	June	341^b ± 15	433^d ± 17	628^b ± 48	675^e ± 21
	July	465^d ± 26	465^ef ± 34	637^b ± 35	416^a ± 39
	August	262^a ±18	388^c ± 20	380^a ± 55	459^b ± 12
Autumn	September	388^c ±12	488^e ± 8	615^b ± 31	571^d ± 22
	October	389^c ± 25	263^a ± 30	381^a ± 47	502^bc ± 25

Values in one column followed by the same superscript do not differ significantly according to SNK post-hoc test. Superscripts a→ b→ c → d→ e → f: indicate increasing activities.

Figure 5. Monthly variation in the reducing power capacity.

Table 6. The monthly variation in reducing power activity in P. atlantica leaves collected in Laghouat and Ain oussera regions, expressed as mg ascorbic acid equivalent (mg AAE)/g dry leaf weight.

Season	Month	LM ± SD (n = 3)	LF ± SD (n = 3)	OM ± SD (n = 3)	OF ± SD (n = 3)
Spring	April	604^c ± 20	594^d ± 27	627^f ± 16	386^a ± 21
	May	962^e ± 12	705^e ± 30	455^d ± 28	311^b ± 13
Summer	Jun	559^b c ± 33	728^e ± 31	564^e ± 21	353^b ± 19
	July	726^d ± 38	515^c ± 31	581^e ± 18	344^a ± 20
	August	520^ab ± 11	490^bc ± 26	404^c ± 16	356^a ± 12
Autumn	September	467^a ± 69	259^a ± 16	343^b ± 19	297^b ± 18
	October	989^e ± 20	447^b ± 45	297^a ± 23	289^b ± 22

Values in one column followed by the same superscript do not differ significantly according to SNK post-hoc test. Superscripts a→ b→ c → d→ e → f: indicate increasing activities..

Figure 6. PC1-PC2 loading plot after autoscaling of the variables TPC, FC, CTC, DPPH and RPC.

Figure 7. PC1-PC2 biplot, showing 28 P. atlantica samples labeled according to (a) harvest regions, (b) the genders, and (c) the harvest months.