Abstract
The stone of Cornus mas L. remains the least known morphological part of this plant, whereas the fruit is appreciated for both consumption purposes and biological activity. The stone is considered to be a byproduct of fruit processing and very little is known about its phytochemical composition and biological properties. In this study, the complete qualitative determination of hydrolyzable tannins, their quantitative analysis, total polyphenolic content, and antioxidant properties of the stone of C. mas are presented for the first time. The 37 identified compounds included the following: various gallotannins (11), monomeric ellagitannins (7), dimeric ellagitannins (10), and trimeric ellagitannins (7). The presence of free gallic acid and ellagic acid was also reported. Our results demonstrate that C. mas stone is a source of various bioactive hydrolyzable tannins and shows high antioxidant activity which could allow potential utilization of this raw material for recovery of valuable pharmaceutical or nutraceutical substances. The principal novelty of our findings is that hydrolyzable tannins, unlike other polyphenols, have been earlier omitted in the evaluation of the biological activities of C. mas. Additionally, the potential recovery of these bioactive chemicals from the byproduct is in line with the ideas of green chemistry and sustainable production.
Highlights
Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas L.), which belongs to the Cornaceae family, is one of the two species from genus Cornus, which have been used in traditional ethnomedicine
The compounds were identified on the basis of ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) retention time, elution order, spectra fragmentation (acquired in (t negative mode), by
Since the hydrolyzable tannins belong to polyphenols, many of which are antioxidants, we investigated antioxidant properties of C. mas stones, rich in these components, using the spectrophotometric in vitro methods ABTS, Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and DPPH, and total polyphenolic content assay (Table 2)
Summary
Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas L.), which belongs to the Cornaceae family, is one of the two species from genus Cornus, which have been used in traditional ethnomedicine. It is native principally to Central and South Eastern Europe, while the second species, Cornus officinalis Torr. These two species form a closely related phylogenetical pair [1]. They show numerous similarities of phytochemical profile and several differences, which are reflected by their therapeutic applications. Knowledge of the medicinal use of C. mas dates back to traditional medicine practices, for example, in Greece, Turkey, Slovakia, and China, where it served for prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal. According to the literature reports, fruits were used most frequently, whereas leaves, flowers, and fruit stones were applied to a minor extent [2,3]
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