Antioxidant Activities and Major Anthocyanins of Myrobalan Plum (Prunus cerasifera Ehrh.)

Abstract:  Total phenolic content, total antioxidant activity of Myrobalan plum (Prunus cerasifera Ehrh.) and anthocyanin content in peel were analyzed in this article. In addition, ultra-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection and electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry were used to determine anthocyanin composition of this fruit. The range of total phenolic content of the tested samples was 1.34 to 6.11 g/kg fresh weight (FW), and anthocyanin content in fruit peel of Myrobalan plum was from 1.93 to 19.86 g/kg peel. Ferric reducing antioxidant power values varied from 11.20 to 44.83 μmol Trolox equivalent/g FW. Four main kinds of anthocyanins in purple Myrobalan plum were detected while 6 kinds in red ones. Practical Application:  The article showed the anthocyanin composition, phenolic content, and antioxidant activities of wild Myrobalan plum. The purple Myrobalan plum could be developed as a resource of fruit drinks because of its high antioxidant activity and the peel could be used as the resource to extract natural pigments.