## 1 Introduction  
Wild plants are becoming more recognized as important sources of naturally occurring bioactive compounds for use in functional food products. The health advantages of wild fruits, including their ability to scavenge free radicals and their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and anticancer properties, have been demonstrated by several research studies [1; 2; 3]. The crucial role of nutrition and food science is highlighted by the transformation of phytotherapeutic products into powders with multiple applications such as improving food quality, extending shelf life, and reducing the amounts of synthetic additives used [4]. The fruits of _Prunus spinosa_ L. appear to be a promising candidate, because the fruits contain a variety of bioactive compounds that need further research, despite their inedible character and low industrial use. _Prunus spinosa_ L. is a tree or shrub in the Rosaceae family that is categorized under the Prunus genus. It grows in the Mediterranean, Europe, West Asia, and West Africa and is sometimes known as \"wild plum\", \"blackthorn\", or \"shoe\" [5; 6; 7]. _P. spinosa_ L. is found in the plain areas of Romania, but it is more common in hilly areas that reach altitudes of 900-1000 m. It is found on the edges of agricultural lands, embellishing the landscape, on pastures that have been abandoned, and on the edge of forests of oak and beech. It is a 2-3 m shrub that grows well in sunny areas. It has dense, stiff, spiky branches and dark blue-violet bark. This shrub does not require care and is an endless source of tiny, spherical, blackish fruits, with a diameter of around 10-12 mm, that have both medicinal and functional qualities [4; 7; 8; 9]. Its late ripening and seasonality may have hampered its widespread usage. Also, these fruits cannot be eaten directly because of the bitter taste and the information regarding their content in active substances is relatively limited and still unknown [5; 10; 11; 12]. In addition to being preserved and utilized to create herbal teas, they are typically used to produce syrups jams, juices, compotes, wine, spirits, pickled like olives, vinegar, and other traditional products [13; 14; 15]. The fruits of _P. spinosa_ L. are rich in organic acids (malic, citric, and fumaric), fatty acids (oleic, linoleic, arachidonic, and linoleic) anthocyanins, polyphenols, tannins, sugars, proteins, pectins, coumarin derivatives, vitamins (C, E), and calcium and magnesium salts [16; 17]. Furthermore, several studies have noted fluctuations in the fruit nutrient content of _P. spinosa_ L., which have mostly been attributed to environmental conditions [4; 18]. In some studies, it was identified that the powder obtained by grinding the fruit of blackthorn berries can be used as a natural coloring and preservative for obtaining functional drinks, gummy bears, pastry products, ice cream, yogurt, and in fermented meat products, improving the nutritional, physical-chemical, and sensory value of these products [4; 12]. To use the fruits produced by wild shrubs, they are often processed using traditional techniques (aqueous or dry extracts, powders) and by current extraction techniques made precisely for the extraction of bioactive compounds [5; 19]. It has also been possible to isolate polyphenic chemicals more easily recently using modern extraction techniques (accelerated solvent extraction, microwave-assisted extraction, and supercritical fluid extraction) [14]. Nevertheless, there are currently significant concerns regarding the use of solvents to extract active ingredients. These concerns focus on the dangerousness of many of the solvents used in this process (such as toluene, chloroform, dichloromethane, acetyl acetate, and petroleum ether), their effects on the environment, human health, and the atmosphere, the expense of treating the toxic wastes that are produced, and the effects on the quality and safety of the materials that are liable to be extracted [5; 20].