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Metabolic syndrome (MS) is often associated with anxiety and depression. Chaenomeles japonica (Thunb.) Lindl, also known as Chaenomeles maulei or Japanese quince, is a medicinal plant with a long history of use forits health-promoting properties.

Depression and anxiety are prevalent chronic psychiatric disorders affecting many people worldwide. Over the past decades, much attention has been drawn to herbal psychopharmacology, offering fewer adverse reactions. The main bioactive compounds in Chaenomeles maulei fruits are polyphenols known for their behavioral effects. The objective of the present study was to assess Chaenomeles maulei fruit juice (CMFJ) effects in tests for anxiety and depression. The animals used were 32 male healthy Wistar rats treated orally with CMFJ for 16 days. They were divided in four groups of 8 animals. The control group received distilled water and the rest of the groups were treated with CMFJ at 2.5, 5 and 10 ml/kg doses. We assessed the social interaction time as a measure of anxiety and the immobility time in the forced swim test as a measure of behavioral despair. In the social interaction test, the 14 days administration of CMFJ did not produce any significant changes in the time spent in social interaction. After 16 days of administration all doses of CMFJ significantly decreased the immobility time of the rats (p < 0.05) in comparison to the control group. These results allow making the conclusion that CMFJ lacked anxiolytic activity, but showed an antidepressant-like effect.