Identification and Analysis of the Content of Biologically Active Substances of Juniper Cone Berries and Their Antioxidant Activity
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsDear Authors,
Your manuscript provides a comprehensive overview of the biologically active substances in juniper cone berries and their antioxidant activity. In my opinion, the topic of your research is both interesting and valuable for further studies in the field of natural product biochemistry. The paper is generally well-written and easy to follow, but several areas require corrections and improvements. My comments are outlined below:
1. There are empty fields in Table 2. Please clarify in the table legend what these empty fields signify, whether the analyses were not conducted or if the values fall below the detection limit. It should also be emphasized what measurement errors are involved in the data presented. Please specify whether the errors are represented as standard deviations or another form of error measurement. Additionally, indicate how many repetitions were performed for each experiment or analysis.
2. In Table 4, measurement errors are not currently listed. Please clarify in the text whether the measurements were conducted in multiple repetitions. If measurement errors were recorded, ensure they are included in the table.
Author Response
Comments 1: [There are empty fields in Table 2. Please clarify in the table legend what these empty fields signify, whether the analyses were not conducted or if the values fall below the detection limit. It should also be emphasized what measurement errors are involved in the data presented. Please specify whether the errors are represented as standard deviations or another form of error measurement. Additionally, indicate how many repetitions were performed for each experiment or analysis.]
Response 1:
[Thank you for pointing this out. We agree with this comment.
Empty spaces in the table mean that analyzes were not performed. We indicated this in the legend to the table 2 (Legend: * - the analyses were not conducted).
Page number 4.
Material and Methods
2.7. Statistics
Determination of the content of carbohydrates, fats, organic acids, the total content of phenols in juniper cone berries, as well as their antioxidant activity was carried out in six replicates in plant material collected from different places of growth in Slovakia. ]
|Comments 1: [In Table 4, measurement errors are not currently listed. Please clarify in the text whether the measurements were conducted in multiple repetitions. If measurement errors were recorded, ensure they are included in the table.]
Response 1: [
Thank you for pointing this out. We agree with this comment.
Measurements were performed twice. Standard errors of measurements are included in Table 4
Page number 11.
3.2. Total Phenolic Compounds and antioxidant activity of juniper berries determined by the DPPH and FRAP methods – international samples
The content of phenols and antioxidant activity of different samples of Juniperus cone berries were determined according to the methods described above. Raw materials were purchased in trade networks and collected from natural habitats in various European countries. The raw materials for the research were cone berries Juniperus communis from the trade network of Bosnia, Serbia, the Czech Republic (Hodonin), and Albania, as well as cone berries J. oxycedrus from Albania. Determination of the content of phenols in juniper cone berries and their antioxidant activity was carried out six times. Average values and their standard deviations were calculated on the basis of research. ]
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsDear Author,
I found your work interesting, it covers topic important both for industry, science, and people making alcohol infusions at home. You have collected impressive amount of data, which can lead to a broadening knowlage of what is influencing the chemical composition of juniper berries.
Here are my sugestions:
- there are several names used to name fruits of juniperus, I would advise to not use pine cone name, it is confusing. You should check whole documents for the name of the fruits and remove mistakes or double forms such us: "cone berries" and "coneberries".
- Abstract is missing the statement with the research goal, why the research were conducted.
Introduction
- First sentence should be rewriten, it is unclear.
- Latin name should be directly after the English one.
- Firstt sentence of second paragraph also needs improvement.
- p2p1 - In Junipers cone berries, it was found... need correction, they were found
- source of nutritional values is missing
- p1p5 pine berries - cone berries or juniper berries
- clear statement of the research objectives or hipotesis is needed at the end of the introduciton.
Material and Methods
- Determination of sugar content is unclear, please rewrite it.
2.4. Total Phenolic Substances
- correct name of the method is "Folin–Ciocalteu"
- last sentence FRAP not FRAPS
Table 2
- dots instread of commas
- in one column it is "components soluble in hexane..." while in other "content of lipids..." please unify
- some results are presented with two digits after come while other with one. please unify.
Figures
- description of the dated and names of the axis are to be corrected. They have different fonts, series numbers are not easy to analise the results.
- p9p6 - last sentence "was shallow" i'd suggest was low
Table 3.
- "soluble components in hexane" unify with other table
- dots instead of comas
- the same number of the digits after coma or the same numer of significant digits shoudl be used.
- p11p1- "first the number of phenolic substances...) I would suggest "Content of total phenolics was determined with FC method".
- FRAP not FRAPS - last sentence of fist paragraph.
Table 4.
- dots instead of comas, please correct in all tables.
Figure 3 - same as to other figures
P12P1 - What was the reason for extensive search?
Table 5, Table 6. - See comments for other tables
Discussion
First 11 paragraphs of discussion are more suitable for introduction, they are literature review, they dont discuss the results. Consider removing them or use them in the introduction.
In the whole document: Latin words should be in italic, same with Greek letters - please check the document and correct it.
P22P1 - "the present in India..." sentence is unclear, please rewrite it.
P22P5 - "The cones berry juniper..." should be "The juniper berry"
P22P7 - FRAP not FRAD
Conclusion is well written and is a good conclusion of the conducted research.
Comments on the Quality of English Language
English should be corrected, some sentences are unclear or hard to read.
Author Response
Thank you for pointing this out. We agree with this comment. We add the manuscript with the changes highlighted in red.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.doc
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe work is very interesting. It is widely and well described. It contains a lot of valuable information about juniper fruits. The results can be used for practical purposes. It is important to notice the places where the fruit was collected, the content of phenolic substances and other chemical compounds in juniper cone fruits.
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Author Response
Thank you for pointing this out. We agree with this comment. We add the manuscript with the changes highlighted in red.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsDear Authors,
your manuscript is well improved in comparison to previous version, tables are unified, most typos is corrected (there is still typo in FC reagent name p.21 last paragraph, and in FRAP method name p.17, second paragraph). your work is now clearly presented and reading is more smooth.
Comments on the Quality of English Language
English needs a minor correction
Author Response
Thank you for pointing this out. We agree with this comment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
