Large Variation Found in the Phytochemical and Antioxidant Activity of Peach and Plum Germplasm

Abstract

<jats:p>Nineteen peach [<jats:italic>Prunus persica</jats:italic> (L.) Batsch] genotypes and 45 plum (<jats:italic>Prunus salicina</jats:italic> Erhr. and hybrids) genotypes with different flesh and skin color were analyzed for their antioxidant content and activity. Anthocyanin content, phenolic content, and antioxidant activity were higher in red-flesh than in light-colored flesh peaches. Carotenoid content was higher in yellow-flesh peaches than in light-colored ones. Red-flesh plums generally had higher anthocyanin and phenolic contents than the other plums but not necessarily greater antioxidant capacity. The total phenolic content had the most consistent and highest correlation with antioxidant activity, indicating that it is more important in determining the antioxidant activity of peaches and plums than are the anthocyanin or carotenoid contents. In general, the wide range of phytochemical content and antioxidant activity found indicates that the genetic variability present can be used to develop cultivars with enhanced health benefits.</jats:p>

Prunus persica var. platycarpa (Tabacchiera Peach): Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant Activity of Pulp, Peel and Seed Ethanolic Extracts

“…Our results demonstrated that pulp extract from Tabacchiera is richer in phenols and flavonoids than peel extract. These results are in contrast with previous reports in a wide range of peach cultivars including the flat peach varieties [11][12][13][14]24].…”

“…persica (Rosaceae) is the second most widely cultivated fruit tree [7]. Peach fruit is known for its nutritional value and therapeutic properties as consequence of its bioactive constituents (phenols and carotenoids) [7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. Thus, in order to evaluate the potential of peach fruits, significance efforts have been directed on the estimation of bioactivity and functionality present in different peach varieties.…”

“…Several research papers reported the analysis of bioactive constituents of P. persica using different solvents in the extraction procedure. Among them methanol was the most widely used [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] since it offers a high recovery of antioxidant compounds. Differently, the ethanol proves to be least effective solvent for extracting vegetable phenolic compounds.…”

Extractable antioxidants and non-extractable phenolics in the total antioxidant activity of selected plum cultivars (Prunus domestica L.): Evolution during on-tree ripening

“…In another study, TAC evaluated by ABTS assay ranged in fresh plums from 204.9 to 567 mg/100 g FW, while the IC 50 value of superoxide radical anion scavenging activity of the plum cultivars ranged from 13.4 to 45.7 mg AAE/100 g . Large variations in the total phenolics and antioxidant activity at the commercial ripening stage have demonstrated the genetic variability that results in differences in the biosynthesis of phenolic secondary metabolites (Gil, Tomás-Barberán, Hess-Pierce, & Kader, 2002;Vasantha-Rupasinghe, Jayasankar, & Lay, 2006;Vizzotto, Cisneros-Zevallos, & Byrne, 2007).…”

“…In the studies cited above, the antioxidant activity was measured in plum extracts obtained with methanol (Cevallos-Casals et al, 2006;Vizzotto et al, 2007) or with aqueous-methanol solvents Gil et al, 2002;Kim, Chun et al, 2003;Kim, Jeong, et al, 2003;Rop, Jurikova, Mlcek, Kramarova, & Sengee, 2009;Vasantha-Rupasinghe et al, 2006). However, the extraction solvents usually employed in most extraction methods do not allow complete extraction of antioxidant compounds.…”