Composition and antioxidant activity of anthocyanins from Aronia melanocarpa cultivated in Haicheng, Liaoning, China

Abstract

Aronia melanocarpa fruits are high in phenolic substances-mainly anthocyanins. The anthocyanins, as a water-soluble plant pigments with strong antioxidant activity, have been used in food and medical industries. The fresh weight, total soluble solids, total anthocyanins and total phenols of Aronia melanocarpa were determined. Anthocyanins were purified using ion exchange resin coupled with chromatography, and identified using HPLC and mass spectrometry. Then, the antioxidant activities of anthocyanins were determined using different kit methods, and the potential application of purified anthocyanins was tested in lard. The results showed the anthocyanins content increased from 280 to 930 mg/g after being purified using semi-preparative reverse phase HPLC. After anthocyanins were purified using absorbent resin, a total of 7 different anthocyanins, including cyanidin-3,5-dihexoside, the dimer of cyanidin-hexoside, cyanidin-3-O-(galactoside, glucoside, arabinoside, xyloside) and delphinidin-3-O-rutinoside, were identified using HPLC-MS, cyanidin-3,5-dihexoside and a dimer of cyanidin-hexoside were first found in A. melanocarpa. In addition, cyanidin-3-O-(galactoside, glucoside, arabinoside, xyloside) were identified using HPLC from anthocyanins purified using absorbent resin coupled with semi-preparative reverse phase HPLC. Furthermore, the antioxidant tests showed that the antioxidant capacity of anthocyanins could be significantly improved by increasing the purity of anthocyanins, and purified anthocyanins were a good antioxidant for lard. A. melanocarpa cultivated in Haicheng is high in anthocyanins and cyanidin-3-O-(galactoside, glucoside, arabinoside, xyloside) were the main anthocyanins. Purified anthocyanins could be separated and may have further applications in food.