## 4 Discussion
According to the authors, methanol extraction produced larger yields, with higher contents of total phenolics and greater antioxidant activity. [PERSON] and [PERSON] used hexane, ethanol, acetone, and water to extract bioactive compounds from _C. edulis_ leaves. [PERSON] et al. [8] studied water-ethanol (1:1) extracts of leaves, flowers, and fruits of _C. edulis_. The choice of solvent is one of the most important aspects of any chemical process, influencing the overall safety, environmental effect, and economic impact. In the present investigation, and for the first time, only green and sustainable solvents (water, ethanol, and a water-ethanol solution) were used to investigate the chemical composition of _C. edulis_ fruits. According to the results presented in Table 4, the _C. edulis_ fruit hydroalcoholic extracts exhibited higher TPC (311.7 mg GAE/g) and TFC (50.43 GAE mg CE/g) than the ethanolic (TPC: 252.3 mg GAE/g; TFC: 36.27 mg CE/g) and aqueous (TPC: 156.7 mg GAE/g; TFC: 26.75 mg CE/g) extracts. Similar TPCs were reported in fruit extracts of _C. edulis_ harvested in three locations in southern Portugal using an aqueous acetone (80%; 1:40, \(w/v\)) solvent mixture [30], while a considerably lower value was attained in an aqueous ethanolic extract of _C. edulis_ fruits collected on the western shores of Portugal [8]. In contrast, a similar study conducted on the peel and flesh of _C. edulis_ fruit indicated an identical TPC in peels (272.82 mg GAE/g) but a lower TFC (1.58 mg CE/g), with the highest values from the ethanol solvent only in comparison to water and acetone solvents [7]. Overall, no single solvent can completely extract the numerous phytochemicals due to their vastly different chemical characteristics. Thus, in recent years, the number of studies that used green extraction solvents has expanded dramatically, as it addresses one of the primary goals of the 2030 Agenda [23; 58; 59]. Furthermore, beyond the efficiency of the solvent, the amount of bioactive compounds in plants varies based on the plant organ, soil composition, and weather conditions, among other things [3]. For instance, [PERSON] et al. [30] observed that _C. edulis_ aerial parts collected during the summer exhibited higher amounts of phenolics in comparison to other portions of the species, regardless of the type of solvent used for extraction. Adverse environmental factors, such as extreme temperatures (cold and heat), are an example of abiotic factors that negatively affect the physiology as well as the primary and secondary metabolism of plants. Thus, according to [PERSON] et al. [30], higher total phenolic values were noted in spring (>200 mg GAE/g extract DW) and summer (~312 mg GAE/g), while the lowest values were registered in winter (213-254 mg GAE/g). Despite the observed differences, the reported levels were lower than those observed in this study, using hydroalcoholic and ethanolic extracts from samples collected in summer (311.7 and 252.3 mg GAE/g). On the other hand, the results presented by [PERSON] et al. [30] were based on aqueous acetone extracts of aerial parts (leaves, shoots, and flowers), suggesting that our results would be significantly superior if we had included all remaining parts, with the advantage of using non-toxic solvents. Antioxidant activity was observed as being directly proportional to the polyphenic contents and solvent nature. The fruits of _C. edulis_ were found to be globally effective as antioxidant agents, since all extracts presented high values of antioxidant activity in both assays (DPPH\({}^{\bullet}\) and FRAP). Our results showed higher antioxidant activity in hydroalcoholic extracts (95.89 and 47.27% for DPPH and FRAP, respectively), followed by the ethanolic (76.50 and 20.30% for DPPH and FRAP, respectively) and aqueous extracts (21.87 and 19.11% for DPPH\({}^{\bullet}\) and FRAP, respectively).