Identification of anthocyanic profile and determination of antioxidant activity of Dahlia pinnata petals: A potential source of anthocyanins

Abstract

In recent decades, the food industry has focused on the search for potential sources of anthocyanins that are able to provide color to replace synthetic dyes and at the same time provide health benefits through food products. Thus, in the present work, we propose the Dahlia pinnata flower as a potential source of anthocyanins. The dahlia is a native, annual flower from Mexico with a wide diversity of shapes and colors. The ancestral use of the flower in several dishes, its abundance, and the intense color of the flowers known as black make the D. pinnata flower a suitable candidate to be considered as a potential source of anthocyanins. Thus, the aim of this research is the determination of its nutritional composition, anthocyanin profile, and antioxidant activity. For this purpose, proximate composition of petals was determined by the AOAC standard methods. Anthocyanins were extracted from the dried petals of the flower with 0.1% HCl in methanol and 70% aqueous acetone solution and purified through Amberlite-XAD7-HP resin. Then, the purified extracts were analyzed for antioxidant activity by the DPPH method and the anthocyanin profile was characterized by HPLC and UPLC-MS/MS. Results showed that D. pinnata flowers have a proximate composition similar to other important edible flowers with a high level of moisture (87%-92%) and fiber (6%-7%). The antioxidant activity of both purified extracts was considerable (2.6-12 g/ml) compared to other sources of anthocyanins. The anthocyanin profile of the purified extracts contains four main anthocyanins: delphinidin-3-glucoside, delphinidin-3-rutinoside, pelargonidin-3-sambubioside-5-glucoside, and peonidin-3-sambubioside-5-glucoside, the last two being uncommon as major anthocyanin components in other plant sources. K E Y W O R D Santhocyanin, anthocyanin profile, antioxidant activity, dahlia flower, UPLC-MS/MS Practical Application: We present a potential and novel source of anthocyanins based on anthocyanin content and antioxidant activity of Dahlia pinnata petals.

Phytochemical profile of petals from black Dahlia pinnata by flow injection analysis–electrospray ionization–Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry

“…Previous studies have reported the presence of different anthocyanins in black and red Dahlia spp. flowers by UPLC‐MS/MS by comparing fragmentation patterns with libraries 5,6,37 …”

“…Flowers were processed following the previously described methodology, 6 which consisted of manually plucking the flower petals, drying them at 30°C for 120 h, and storing them at 25°C avoiding exposure to light.…”

“…has been shown to be a rich source of anthocyanins with potential use in the food industry, there has been an increased interest in understanding the types of secondary metabolites present in the petals of this flower. However, few studies have characterized the phytochemical profile of D. pinnata using techniques such as HPLC‐MS or UHPLC‐MS 5,6 . Due to the interest in its food or medicinal purposes, more powerful techniques with higher precision and accuracy are required to allow for the identification of existing metabolites, such as the FIA‐ESI‐FTICR‐MS technique.…”

“…Previous studies have reported the presence of different anthocyanins in black and red Dahlia spp. flowers by UPLC-MS/MS by comparing fragmentation patterns with libraries 5,6,37. On the other hand, all these compounds, including flavonoids, have specific molecular structures that often show different m/z values in their mass spectra.…”

Ultra‐performance liquid chromatography‐quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry‐based metabolomics to clarify the mechanism of color change of saffron floral bio‐residues

“…Saffron spice is very expensive since its isolation remains an extremely labor‐intensive process (7.4% w/w of the flower) (Serrano‐Diaz et al., 2014), and this is why it is known as the “gold of the plant kingdom.” The utilization of the rest 92.6% of the flower, that is, saffron floral bio‐residues (SFB) has hence attracted people's attention due to its economical and biological potential (Hosseini et al., 2018), such as antioxidant activities (Ahmadian‐Kouchaksaraie et al., 2016), anti‐inflammation (Chen et al., 2017), liver protection (Hosseini et al., 2018), anti‐hyperuricemic effect (Chen et al., 2022), etc. Recently, the search for a natural source of antioxidants and/or colorants to replace synthetic antioxidants and/or dyes has become important because it can provide health benefits through food products, for example, fortified food made from anthocyanin extract is currently attracting wide interest (Granados‐Balbuena et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2020). Being abundant in flavonols and anthocyanins, SFB became a popular natural source of antioxidants and colorants that can be used in food and cosmetic products (Jafari et al., 2019; Moratalla‐López et al., 2019; Serrano‐Diaz et al., 2012).…”