## 3 Results and Discussion
### Antioxidant Potential Properties  
Berry fruits have considerable amounts of health-promoting compounds, such as phenolic compounds like phenolic acids, anthocyanins, tannins, and flavonoids [28]. Natural phenolic compounds exert healthy actions by reducing oxidative stress and inhibiting macromolecular oxidations, thus counteracting the risk of degenerative diseases [29]. Autumn olive is a multipurpose plant, whose fruits have been consumed over the centuries for many uses. Among these, especially in the native range of the species, the berries have a relevant medical value. To partially support the effectiveness of these local remedies, a study on _E. umbellata_ conducted in 2007 reported the capacity of the plant extracts to inhibit the growth of _E. coli_, _S. aureus_, _P. aeruginosa_, and _B. subtilis_[8]. The TPC value is expressed in milligrams of gallic acid equivalents and recorded a considerable value (Table 1), higher than other studies on the same species [5; 14]. These results make autumn olive berries comparable to other small fruits such as red raspberry (\(357.83\pm 7.06\) mg GAE/100 g FW), blueberry (\(305.38\pm 5.09\) mg GAE/100 g FW), and cherry (\(314.45\pm 5.95\) mg GAE/100 g FW) [28]. Regarding TAC, no values have been reported so far in this species. The clear identification of the different Elaeagnaceae species and cultivars is often difficult; moreover, it is hard to find specific \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline
**Parameter** & **Unit of Measurement** & **Mean Value \(\pm\) SD** \\ \hline Weight & (g) & \(0.32\pm 0.02\) \\ Width & (mm) & \(6.92\pm 0.11\) \\ Length & (mm) & \(6.46\pm 0.08\) \\ Total soluble solids & (\({}^{\circ}\)Brix) & \(16.23\pm 0.15\) \\ Titratable acidity & (meq/L) & \(342\pm 79.37\) \\ pH & (pH units) & \(3.53\pm 0.20\) \\ Total polyphenic content (TPC) & (mgGAE/100 gFW) & \(325.366\pm 13.019\) \\ Total anthocyanin content (TAC) & (mgC3G/100 gFW) & \(194.992\pm 0.817\) \\ Antioxidant capacity (AC) & (mmol Fe\({}^{2+}\)/kg) & \(20.031\pm 1.214\) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Mean value and standard deviation are given for each sample (\(n=3\)).  
\end{table} 
Table 1: Morphological, quality, and antioxidant traits of autumn olive fruits. information on the different species. However, the observed value of total anthocyanins (Table 1), expressed as milligrams of cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (C3G) per 100 g of fresh weight, was higher than those found on other berry fruits such as blackberry, strawberry, blueberry, and red currant, but lower than the values detected in black currant and black chokeberry [28; 30]. The present results are in accordance with previous research on different genotypes of Russian olive (_Elaagensus angustifolia_ L.), where values ranged from 115.45 to 260.52 mg C3G/100 g FW and from 116.84 to 630.1 mg C3G/100 g FW [31; 32]. Genetic and environmental factors contribute to determining a large intraspecific variability on these parameters, as confirmed by the results in literature. Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), a technique based on the ability of antioxidants to reduce ferric (III) ions to ferrous (II) ions, was performed to assess the antioxidant activity. There are several techniques to estimate this parameter. Among them, FRAP methodology represents a fast, low-cost, and comparable in vitro method widely used for screening. Despite the abundance of phenolic and antioxidant compounds, only a few studies report the antioxidant capacity of _Elaagens_ berries.