Metabolism of Flavonoids in Novel Banana Germplasm during Fruit Development

Abstract

Banana is a commercially important fruit, but its flavonoid composition and characteristics has not been well studied in detail. In the present study, the metabolism of flavonoids was investigated in banana pulp during the entire developmental period of fruit. ‘Xiangfen 1,’ a novel flavonoid-rich banana germplasm, was studied with ‘Brazil’ serving as a control. In both varieties, flavonoids were found to exist mainly in free soluble form and quercetin was the predominant flavonoid. The most abundant free soluble flavonoid was cyanidin-3-O-glucoside chloride, and quercetin was the major conjugated soluble and bound flavonoid. Higher content of soluble flavonoids was associated with stronger antioxidant activity compared with the bound flavonoids. Strong correlation was observed between antioxidant activity and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside chloride content, suggesting that cyanidin-3-O-glucoside chloride is one of the major antioxidants in banana. In addition, compared with ‘Brazil,’ ‘Xiangfen 1’ fruit exhibited higher antioxidant activity and had more total flavonoids. These results indicate that soluble flavonoids play a key role in the antioxidant activity of banana, and ‘Xiangfen 1’ banana can be a rich source of natural antioxidants in human diets.

Investigation of flavonoid expression and metabolite content patterns during seed formation of Artemisia sphaerocephala Krasch.

“…have an upward trend (Zhao et al, 2012); the content of total flavonoids in the fruit of Musa nana Lour. variety ‘Brazil’ increased firstly and then decreased during fruit ripening (Dong et al, 2016); most flavonoid components such as quercetin and kaempferol increased during the development of yellow and black Brassica campestris L. seeds (Jiang et al, 2013).…”

Bio-properties of Saba banana (Musa ‘saba’, ABB Group): Influence of maturity and changes during simulated in vitro gastrointestinal digestion

“…The determination of total phenolic content as free and bound forms in Saba banana revealed that, between the two, a major fraction was contributed from bound phenolics. A previous evaluation of banana pulp showed that it contained significant levels of cell wall bound phenolics such as anthocyanidins 7 , quercetin, and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside chloride 24 . Since bound phenolics are bound to insoluble macromolecules, they have different pathways and absorption mechanisms in the gastrointestinal tract when compared to that of free phenolics.…”

Nutraceutical Difference between Two Popular Thai Namwa Cultivars Used for Sun Dried Banana Products

“…Consumption of flavonoids helps to protect against cardiovascular disease [ 10 ]. Flavonoids exhibit a wide range of biological activities including strong antioxidant capacity, anti-inflammatory, anti-neoplastic, and hepatoprotective activity as well as vasodilatory actions [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]. Flavonols such as quercetin and kaempferol have the most potent effect on cardiovascular protection [ 14 , 15 ].…”

“…Flavonols such as quercetin and kaempferol have the most potent effect on cardiovascular protection [ 14 , 15 ]. Various phenolic acids and flavonoids have been identified in bananas including ferulic, gallic, p-hydroxybenzoic, vanillic and syringic acids, p-coumaric acids, ellagic acid, catechin, epicatechin, quercetin, tannins, rutin and gallocatechin [ 3 , 11 ]. Kanazawa and Sakakibara [ 16 ] found dopamine (L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine) levels ranging from 2.5–10 mg/100 g in banana pulp.…”