Phytoconstituents of leaf extracts of Ziziphus jujuba Mill. plants harvested in Tunisia

• The phytoconstituent compositions of leaves of four Ziziphus jujuba ecotypes (Choutrana, Mahdia, Mahres and Sfax) was estimed.
• Z. jujuba leaves were rich especially on linolenic (42.04%), palmitic acid (23.04%), β-sitosterol (40.36), stigmasterol (24.18), apigenin (6.1 mg/g) and rutin (1.91 mg/g).
• Unsaturated fatty acids ranged between 53% and 60%.
• Total phenolic contents measured by Folin-ciocalteux ranged from 2.3 to 3.6 mg/L.
• Fatty acids and flavonoids in leaves of Z. jujuba were responsible for its therapeutic and pharmaceutical activities. It could justify its use by Tunisian people in traditional and ancestral medicine for treatment of several pathologies.

The present study aimed to determine the phytoconstituent compositions of the leaves of four Ziziphus jujuba ecotypes (Choutrana, Mahdia, Mahres and Sfax). The chromatographic peaks of 18 compounds, including nine major fatty acids, five sterols, two triterpene alcohols and two methysterols, were quantified by the capillary gaseous chromatography method. The major fatty acids identified were linolenic (42.04%) and palmitic (23.04%). Unsaturated fatty acids ranged between 53% and 60%. The predominant sterols (mg/100 g) were β-sitosterol (40.36) and stigmasterol (24.18). Cycloartenol (68.55 mg/100 g) and citrostadienol (12.27 mg/100 g) were the major metylsterols. Methylene cycloartanol ranged between 1.2 mg/100 g (Sfax) and 1.5 mg/100 g (Mahdia). Total phenolic content measured by Folin-ciocalteux ranged from 3.97 mg GAE/g to 6.04 mg GAE/g. The predominant flavonoids identified by HPLC were apigenin (6.1 mg/g) and rutin (1.91 mg/g).The fatty acids and flavonoids in the Z. jujuba leaves were responsible for their therapeutic and pharmaceutical effects. This could explain why Tunisian people traditionally use it as medicine to treat several pathologies.