Anthocyanin analysis of Acanthopanax fruits using HPLC-ESI tandem MS

Acanthopanax species are indigenous medicinal plant and the fruits of Acanthopanax species have been used as a remedy for “wipe out evil wind” in traditional medicine. Although there have been a few phytochemical studies on Acanthopanax fruits, no study on the comparison of anthocyanin contents and types between Acanthopanax species distributed in Korea was performed. In order to provide the phytochemical information about two major Acanthopanax species in Korea, Acanthopanax senticosus and Acanthopanax divaricatus var. albeofructus, HPLC-MS studies were performed. Cyanidin-3-lathyroside, a characteristic anthocyanin of Araliaceae family, was identified for the first time from the fruit of A. senticosus as a major anthocyanin. The relative content of cyaniding-3-lathynoside between A. senticosus and A. divaricatus var. albeofructus , and the information about some other minor anthocyanins were characterized.