Planta Med 2013; 79 - PI98
DOI: 10.1055/s-0033-1352187

Characteristics of low molecular weight extractives from Prunus avium seeds

C Si 1, L Wu 2, S Liu 2, X Ren 2, G Yu 2, G Xu 2
  • 1a: Tianjin Key Lab of Pulp & Paper, Tianjin Univ of Sci &Technol, China; b: Key Lab of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology of Ministry of Education & Tianjin Key Lab of Industrial Microbiology, Tianjin Univ of Sci & Technol, Tianjin 300457, China
  • 2Tianjin Key Lab of Pulp & Paper, College of Materials Science & Chemical Engineering, Tianjin University of Science &Technology, Tianjin 300457, China

Cherry of Prunus avium (Rosaceae) is one of the most popular temperate fruits. It is very attractive to consumers due to its taste, sweetness and wealth of nutrients. Moreover, P. avium cherry is considered to be a rich source of bioactive natural compounds, which can act as powerful antioxidative agents and reported to have many health promoting effects, including antitumor, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activities [1]. P. avium fruits can also used as an ingredient in fruit cocktails and in the manufacture of confectionery fillings, as well as for so-called maraschino cherries [2]. Previous phytochemical investigation on P. avium were mainly concentrated on its cherries. However, to date, chemical composition of seeds of P. avium has never been carried out yet. In the current work, six low molecular weight extractives were isolated and purified from n-BuOH fraction of 95% aqueous methanol extracts of P. avium seeds by Sephadex LH-20 and silica gel open column chromatography coupling with TLC systematically. Sturctures of the six isolated compounds were elucidated through extensive spectroscopic techniques and sorted as two flavan-3-ols [(+)-gallocatechin (1) and (-)-epicatechin (2)], one flavonol [kaempferol (3)], one flavonoid glycoside [apigenin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (4)], and two phenolic acids [gallic acid (5) and caffeic acid (6)]. Among these low molecular extractives, compounds 1, 4, 5 and 6 were isolated for the first time in genus of Prunus.

References:

[1] Serra AT. et al. (2011) Food Chem 125: 318 – 325.

[2] Gao L, et al (1995)J Agric Food Chem 43: 343 – 346.

Acknowledgements: This work was financed by National Natural Science Foundation of China (31170541, 31000279), Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-10 – 0951), Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin City (13JCZDJC), Foundation (2012IM002) of Key Lab of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology of Ministry of Education & Tianjin Key Lab of Industrial Microbiology, China.