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Flavonoid content and radical scavenging activity in fruits of Chinese dwarf cherry (Cerasus humilis) genotypes

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Abstract

The Chinese dwarf cherry (Cerasus humilis (Bge.) Sok.) is a small shrub with edible fruits. It is native to northern and western China. This species was included as a medicinal plant in the “Chinese Pharmacopeia” and has emerged as an economically important crop for fresh fruit consumption, processing into juice and wine and nutraceutical products as well. To gain a better understanding of flavonoid biosynthesis and help develop value added products and better cultivars with greater health benefits, we analyzed total flavonoid content (TFC), composition, and radical scavenging activities in fruit extracts of 16 Chinese dwarf cherry genotypes. Fruit peel TFC ranged from 33.5 to 72.8 mg/g RE·FW (RE: rutin equivalent, FW: fresh weight) while fruit flesh TFC ranged from 4.3 to 16.9 mg/g RE·FW. An HPLC analysis revealed that fruit extracts contained 14 flavonoids with considerable variation in their profiles across genotypes. The most abundant flavonoids in most genotypes were proanthocyanidin B1 (PA-B1), proanthocyanidin B2 (PA-B2), phloretin 2′-O-glucoside (PG), and phloretin 2′,4′-O-diglucoside (PDG). Principal component analysis showed that PG, PA-B1, and PA-B2 had large, positive factor loading values in the first principal component for each genotype. Increased scavenging activity of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals was apparent in genotypes ‘Nongda 4’, ‘Nongda 3’, ‘Nongda 6’, ‘Wenfenli’, and ’10-32’, suggesting promising applications in the production of nutraceutical products. In summary, our results will aid in breeding, fruit processing, and developing medicinal uses of the Chinese dwarf cherry.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Major Subject of Shanxi Science and Technology Research (Grant No. 20121101010), the Platform Construction of Science and Technology of Shanxi Province (Grant No. 2013091004-0101), and the Doctoral Research Fund of Shanxi Agriculture University (Grant No. 2015ZZ19).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Horticulture, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu, 030801, Shanxi, People’s Republic of China

    Pengfei Wang, Xiaopeng Mu, Junjie Du, Luting Jia & Jiancheng Zhang

  2. OSU South Centers, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Science, The Ohio State University, 1864 Shyville Road, Piketon, OH, 45661, USA

    Yu Gary Gao

  3. Administration of Fruits Industry Development, Zhouzhi, 710400, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China

    Donghai Bai

  4. Research Institute of Fruit Tree, Shanxi Agricultural Science, Taigu, 030801, Shanxi, People’s Republic of China

    Haiyan Ren & Xiaofang Xue

  5. Shanxi Key Laboratory of Germplasm Improvement and Utilization in Pomology, Taigu, 030801, Shanxi, People’s Republic of China

    Junjie Du & Xiaofang Xue

Authors
  1. Pengfei Wang
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  2. Xiaopeng Mu
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  3. Junjie Du
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  4. Yu Gary Gao
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  5. Donghai Bai
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  6. Luting Jia
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  7. Jiancheng Zhang
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  8. Haiyan Ren
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  9. Xiaofang Xue
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Junjie Du.

Additional information

Project funding: This study was financially supported by the Major Subject of Shanxi Science and Technology Research (Grant No. 20121101010), the Platform Construction of Science and Technology of Shanxi Province (Grant No. 2013091004-0101), and the Doctoral Research Fund of Shanxi Agriculture University (Grant No. 2015ZZ19).

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Corresponding editor: Zhu Hong.

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Wang, P., Mu, X., Du, J. et al. Flavonoid content and radical scavenging activity in fruits of Chinese dwarf cherry (Cerasus humilis) genotypes. J. For. Res. 29, 55–63 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-017-0418-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-017-0418-3

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