Quantification and Recovery of Anthocyanins from Litchi Pericarps

Abstract

Total pigment and main monomeric anthocyanin contents in different cultivars of litchi (Litchi chinensis) were measured, HPLC fingerprints and similarity of litchi anthocyanins were analyzed, and a recovery process of litchi anthocyanins was developed. In 16 cultivars of litchi, the total anthocyanin content (absorbance at 510 nm) per gram pericarp was 0.490-3.045 in 2007 and 0.475-3.122 in 2008. The content of cyanidin-3-rutinoside (C3R), the most abundant monomeric anthocyanin in litchi pericarp, ranged from 724.6 (cv Yuhebao) to 7706.9 (cv Zhuangyuanhong) mg/kg, while the cyanidin-3-glucoside (C3G) content ranged from 1.3 (cv Guiwei) to 14.7 (cv Zhuangyuanhong) mg/kg. The anthocyanin profiles of the 16 cultivars were similar and the correlation coefficients were higher than 0.970, except for cv Gualv and cv Yuhebao. The recovery procedures for anthocyanins were as follows: 0.2-0.5% (v/v) of HCl as the extraction solvent, added to cover the surface of fresh pericarps, overnight extraction at ambient temperatures, and extracted twice, and purification by X-5 macroporous resin. The resulting litchi pigment contained 421.6 mg/g of C3R and 0.168 mg/g of C3G, which could be used as functional food ingredients.