Abstract
Peach blossoms were harvested and classified into six developmental stages: (I) bud emerging stage; (II) middle bud stage; (III) large bud stage; (IV) initial-flowering stage; (V) full-flowering stage; and (VI) end-flowering stage. The contents of total phenolics, flavanoids, individual phenolic compounds as well as antioxidant and tyrosinase inhibitory activity of peach blossoms at different developmental stages were investigated. The total phenolic contents varied from 149.80 to 74.80 mg chlorogenic acid equivalents/g dry weight (DW), and the total flavanoid contents ranged from 93.03 to 44.06 mg rutin equivalents/g DW. Both the contents of total phenolics and flavanoids decreased during blossom development. Chlorogenic acid was the predominant component, accounting for 62.08%–71.09% of the total amount of identified phenolic compounds in peach blossom. The antioxidant capacities determined by different assays and tyrosinase inhibitory activity also showed descending patterns during blossom development. Significant correlations were observed between antioxidant capacities with contents of total phenolics and total flavanoids as well as chlorogenic acid, cinnamic acid and kaempferol-3-O-galactoside, while the tyrosinase inhibitory activity had lower correlations with total phenolics and total flavanoids as well as chlorogenic acid, quercetin-3-O-rhamnoside, kaempferol-3-O-galactoside and cinnamic acid. The antioxidant activities of peach blossom seemed to be more dependent on the phenolic compounds than tyrosinase inhibitory activity.
Highlights
Free radicals and other reactive oxygen species are intermediate metabolites in many biochemical reactions of living organisms with high reactivity
The total phenolic and flavanoid contents of peach blossoms at different developmental stages were measured by using a Folin–Ciocalteu assay [40] and NaNO2–Al(NO3)3–NaOH test system [41], respectively
Quercetin-3-O-galactoside and kaempferol-4-O-glucoside, only small differences were observed among different developmental stages of blossoms, and the changes were diverse for each compound during blossom development
Summary
Free radicals and other reactive oxygen species are intermediate metabolites in many biochemical reactions of living organisms with high reactivity. Previous studies revealed that the peach blossom extracts rich in phenolic compounds have potent antoxidant and tyrosinase inhibitory activities [32,33,34]. Biosynthesis of these bioactive phytochemicals in plant tissues is a highly ordered process and varies during the developmental periods, and the substantial differences in biological activities may occur as well [35,36]. Various methods for antioxidant evaluation, including Photochem assay, DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) assay and hydroxyl radical assay were used in this study
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