Abstract
Persimmon (Diospyros kaki), a familiar and widespread fruit worldwide, is known to exhibit several physiological effects because of the presence of pharmacologically active compounds called phytochemicals. However, its high-molecular-weight compounds, particularly polysaccharides, have not been extensively studied. In this study, D. kaki extract (DK) was fractionated into low- and high-molecular-weight fractions (DK-L and DK-H, respectively) through ethanol fractionation, and their effects on antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiwrinkle activities were investigated by an in vitro system. DK-H contained significantly higher contents of neutral sugar, uronic acid, and polyphenols compared to DK and DK-L. Furthermore, DK-H exhibited significantly improved pharmacological activities, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiwrinkle properties, compared to those of DK and DK-L, demonstrating that DK-H may play an important role in mediating the beneficial effects of persimmon. Sugar composition analysis and molecular characterization indicated that DK-H consisted of a galacturonic acid (GalA)-rich polysaccharide with a molecular weight of >345 kDa that mainly comprised GalA and small amounts of neutral sugar and polyphenol residues. These results suggest that the bioactive fraction DK-H is likely to be a GalA-rich pectic polysaccharide containing a small number of polyphenol residues, which may be a novel candidate in the pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical industries.
Highlights
Synthetic substances are widely used as major ingredients in cosmetic products; recently, a number of natural compounds have been applied as principal active ingredients in cosmetology [1]
D. kaki extract (DK) and DK-L were mainly composed of total sugars, whereas DK-H was enriched with total sugars (460.6 mg/g) and uronic acid (436.9 mg/g)
When the antioxidant activities of the fractions were compared, DK-H treatment resulted in 20.6-fold and 11.4-fold lower IC50 values in ABTS and DPPH free radical scavenging activity assays and a 33.6-fold higher value in the FRAP activity assay than those of the DK treatment. These results demonstrated that antioxidant activity is drastically increased when DK is fractionated into DK-H, suggesting that DK-H may be utilized as a novel ingredient for synthesizing antioxidant agents from persimmon fruit
Summary
Synthetic substances are widely used as major ingredients in cosmetic products; recently, a number of natural compounds have been applied as principal active ingredients in cosmetology [1]. Recent skincare interests have focused on the identification and application of novel natural sources and their extracts in cosmetics and cosmeceuticals [2]. A number of medicinal plants are considered to have beneficial effects on skin health because of their pharmaceutically active components, such as polyphenols, flavonoids, terpenoids, lignin, tannins, and alkaloids, known as phytochemicals [4]. Because of their beneficial effects on the skin, polysaccharides are increasingly used in the preparation of cosmetic formulations [5]
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