## 1 Introduction  
Currently, red and purple fruits are the focus of many studies given their health-promoting properties [1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9]. These benefits have been closely linked to phenolic compounds, namely, anthocyanins, whose presence of pyrogallol, methoxy, and catechol groups in their chemical structure turn them into notable antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-parasitic, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and probiotic agents [5; 9; 10; 11]. Among fruits, blueberries (_Vaccinium corymbosum_) and sweet cherries (_Prunus avium_ Linnaeus) have attracted much attention given their high content of anthocyanins (total anthocyanins content varying from 34.5 to 552.2 mg cyanidin 3-O-rutinoside per 100 g of fresh weight (fw) for blueberries, and between 3.7 and 98.4 mg cyanidin 3-O-rutinoside per 100 g of fw for sweet cherries) [2; 12; 13; 14; 15; 16]. However, these amounts depend on genotype, local origin, climate, and agricultural and processing techniques [17; 18]. In fact, these fruits are very attractive to consumers mainly due to their nutritional values and organoleptic characteristics, standing out due to their vibrant purple and red colours owing to the presence of anthocyanins, and sweet taste; therefore, it is not surprising that their cultivation and economical value are increasing worldwide [17; 19; 20]. They are mainly consumed fresh, but can also be processed into juices, concentrates, and jams [21; 22]. Focusing on blueberries, malvidin 3-O-galactoside is the main anthocyanin detected (12.11-67.45 mg per 100 g of fw), followed by peonidin and delphinidin 3-O-glucoside (12-54.37 and 1.21-53.62 mg per 100 g fw, respectively), and delphinidin 3-O-galactoside (2.29-53.29 mg per 100 g fw) [22; 23; 24; 25]. Recent evidence reported that blueberries possess anti-hypertensive properties and are really effective in normalizing stress oxidative levels and inflammation [26; 27; 28; 29], and improving neuronal [30; 30], endothelial, and vascular functions in humans [31; 32]. Regarding sweet cherries, cyanidin 3-O-rutinoside is the main anthocyanin found (0.20-389.9 mg per 100 g of fw), followed by cyanidin 3-O-glucoside (0.0 to 142.03 mg per 100 g of fw) [15; 33; 34]. Additionally, vestigial amounts of cyanidin and malvidin aglycones, and delphinidin, malvidin, pelargonidin, and peonidin derivatives are also detected [16; 17; 33; 35; 36]. The daily intake of sweet cherries has been demonstrated to diminish blood pressure levels and inflammatory markers [37; 38], improve sleep, oxidative stress levels [39], memory and cognition capacity [40], and exert anti-gout effects in humans [41]. Therefore, considering the potential of natural products to attenuate or even prevent the appearance of many disorders and also the current increasing incorporation of natural molecules in pharmaceuticals, the main goal of this work is to analyse the phenolic profile of phenolic-concentrated fractions of Portuguese blueberries (cv. Legacy and cv. Duke) and sweet cherries (cv. Sweetheart), evaluate the scavenging capacity of these fractions against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH\({}^{\bullet}\)), the ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP), nitric oxide (\({}^{\bullet}\)NO), and superoxide (O\({}_{2}\)\({}^{\bullet-}\)) radicals, and also explore their potential to inhibit the \(\alpha\)-glucosidase enzyme. Additionally, we also tested the antimicrobial capacity of these extracts, together with Saco sweet cherry, on nine bacterial strains, which are either food pathogens or part of the list of priority pathogens according to the World Health Organization given their ability to acquire or present resistance to antibiotics [42]. Antibiotic-resistant pathogens are one of the main threats to human health in recent decades, and new strategies should be implemented with the aim to stop the rise and transmission of these cases [43]. We conducted a comparison between the extracts of two types of berries with strong biological properties.