Characterisation of phenolics by LC–UV/Vis, LC–MS/MS and sugars by GC in Melicoccus bijugatus Jacq. ‘Montgomery’ fruits

Abstract

Fruits of the native South American tree Melicoccus bijugatus Jacq. (Sapindaceae) are consumed for both dietary and medicinal purposes, but limited information is available about the phytochemistry and health value of M. bijugatus fruits. Fruit tissues of the Florida Montgomery cultivar were assessed for sugars, using gas chromatography, and for total phenolics, using UV spectroscopy. Reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprints of crude methanolic pulp, embryo and seed coat extracts were obtained at 280 nm. Phenolics were characterised by both HPLC UV/vis analysis and HPLC electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Major sugars detected in the pulp and embryo extracts were sucrose, followed by glucose and fructose. The glucose:fructose ratio was 1:1 in the pulp and 0.1:1 in the embryo. Total phenolic concentrations of the fruit tissues were in the order: seed coat > embryo > pulp. Phenolic acids were identified mostly in pulp tissues. Phenolic acids, flavonoids, procyanidins and catechins were identified in embryo tissues, and higher molecular weight procyanidins were identified in seed coat tissues. This study provides new information about the phytochemistry and the potential health value of the Montgomery cultivar M. bijugatus fruit tissues.

The good and the bad: Alkaloid screening and brineshrimp bioassays of aqueous extracts of 31 medicinal plants of eastern Nicaragua

“…The effectiveness of these two species as herbal remedies may be due to the presence of other types of secondary metabolites such as flavanoids, glycosides, phenols, sapogenins, saponins, and tannins (Heltzel et al, 1993a(Heltzel et al, , 1993bBinutu & Lajubutu, 1994;Kaneko et al, 1997Kaneko et al, , 1998Betancur-Galvis et al, 1999;Bystrom et al, 2008;Ogbuagu, 2008). For example, the fruit pulp of C. cujete contains flavanoids, saponins, cyanogenic glycosides (as HCN), phenols, and tannins (Ogbuagu, 2008).…”

“…For example, the fruit pulp of C. cujete contains flavanoids, saponins, cyanogenic glycosides (as HCN), phenols, and tannins (Ogbuagu, 2008). Similarly, the fruit pulp of M. bijugatus has phenolic acids, flavonoids, procyanidins, and catechins (Bystrom et al, 2008). The therapeutic values and toxicity of these other compounds are well known.…”

Chemotaxonomic Metabolite Profiling of 62 Indigenous Plant Species and Its Correlation with Bioactivities

“…Twenty-four metabolites were considered as significantly different metabolites among the 6 plant families by variable importance in the projection (VIP) > 0.7 and p-value < 0.05 (Table 1). Sixteen metabolites were tentatively identified by comparing mass spectra and retention time of standard compounds or mass to charge ratio, mass fragment patterns, and UV absorbance according to references [32][33][34][35][36]. The identified metabolites were polyols (quinic acid and dicaffeoylquinic acid), phenolic compounds (gallic acid and digalloyl-hexoside), and flavonoids and flavonoid derivatives (quercetin, quercetin derivatives, kaempferol, kaempferol derivatives, isorhamnetin, patuletin, catechin, and genistein), which are known secondary metabolic compounds in various plant species [32][33][34][35][36].…”

Phenolics, Sugars, Antimicrobial and Free-Radical-Scavenging Activities of Melicoccus bijugatus Jacq. Fruits from the Dominican Republic and Florida

“…Fruit chemistry can vary widely among cultivars, within different tissues, and when exposed to different environmental stressors [6]. Sugars, phenolic acids, flavonoids and other phenolics were identified in fruit tissues of the 'Montgomery' cultivar [7]. However, no studies have compared different fruit tissues from different cultivars or collections for total phenolics, sugars and biological activities.…”