No abstract

Phenolics from the American cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) were fractionated into a series of proanthocyanidins and other flavonoid compounds by vacuum chromatography on a hydrophilic, porous polyvinylic gel permeation polymer. Antioxidant activity was not restricted to a particular class of components in the extract but was found in a wide range of the fractions. Significant chemopreventive activity, as indicated by an ornithine decarboxylase assay, was localized in one particular proanthocyanidin-rich fraction from the initial fractionation procedure. Further fractionation of the active anticarcinogenic fraction revealed the following components: seven flavonoids, mainly quercetin, myricetin, the corresponding 3-O-glycosides, (-)-epicatechin, (+)-catechin, and dimers of both gallocatechin and epigallocatechin types, and a series of oligomeric proanthocyanidins.

Elicitation of anthocyanin-producing cells of ohelo (Vaccinium pahalae) by both biotic (purified 13-glucan and chitosan) and abiotic [sodium ferric ethylenediamine di-(o-hydroxyphenylacetate) FeEDDHA, and CuS04] elicitors resulted in significant enhancement of anthocyanin accumulation. Anthocyanin production increased up to 1.8 and 1.5-fold over the control in the presence of abiotic elicitors (90 I.tM FeEDDHA and 20 ~M CuSO a, respectively), and increased 1.9 and 1.6-fold in the presence of biotic elicitors (10 mg L 1 ]3-glucan and 100 mg L -1 chitosan). Maximum anthocyanin production with the two most effective elicitors was achieved when cultures were treated on Day 3 ([3-glucan) or Day 0 (FeEDDHA) after the initiation of fresh cell cultures. A concentration-dependent response was exhibited by cultures treated with exogenous methyl jasmonate (M J). The addition of 0.5 p,M MJ alone provoked a 2-3-fold increase in anthocyanin production over that of the control; however, no additive effect on anthocyanin production was observed in any treatments which combined MJ and [3-glucan or FeEDDHA. Conditioning of the cells with a preculture in either M J, ]3-glucan, or FeEDDHA similarly did not enhance anthocyanin production. Inoculation of cultures elicited by MJ or 6-glucan with ibuprofen, a reported inhibitor of jasmonate biosynthesis, dramatically stimulated, rather than inhibited, anthocyanin production, resuiting in levels of accumulation beyond any of the tested elicitor combinations. Hypotheses for the observed influence of ibuprofen in this system are discussed.