Concentrations of Anti‐Oxidant Compounds in Different Fruits

Abstract

The levels of some anti-oxidant and anti-carcinogenic compounds were measured in six types of organically grown fruit (cranberries, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, Concord grapes and guava). The fruit was ground to a fine powder in liquid nitrogen, and extracted with water, boiling water, or methanol. The extracts were analyzed by reverse phase HPLC, using a C18 column and a phosphate buffer-acetonitrile gradient. The phenolic compounds gallic acid, catechin, epicatechin, and ellagic acid were detected at 280 nm, caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid and trans-resveratrol at 313 nm, and rutin and quercitin were detected at 365 nm. All compounds were compared to authentic standard compounds. Preliminary results show that the concentrations of different phenolics vary widely in different fruits. Funding provided by the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo.