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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Little Rock, Arkansas » Microbiome and Metabolism Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #244963
Title: Procyaidin composition of selected fruits and fruit byproducts is affected by extraction method and variety

Author
item KHANAL, RAMESH - University Of Arkansas
item HOWARD, LUKE - University Of Arkansas
item Prior, Ronald

Submitted to: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/25/2009
Publication Date: 10/14/2009
Citation: Khanal, R.C., Howard, L.R., Prior, R.L. 2009. Procyaidin composition of selected fruits and fruit byproducts is affected by extraction method and variety. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 57(19):8839-8843.

Interpretive Summary: Fruits and fruit byproducts are a rich source of polyphenols, including procyanidins, which are known to have numerous potential health benefits. Procyanidins are a class of polyphenols that can vary greatly in size from simple single unit compounds to large compounds with multiple units. These large procyanidin compounds may bind to the cell walls of plant material and thus be difficult to extract. We investigated if varietal differences existed in the procyanidin composition of grape seed and if soaking in extraction solvent overnight prior to extraction improved the recovery of procyanidins from grape seed, grape pomace, blueberry, and cranberry powder. Grape variety Riesling contained the highest amount of procyanidins, including the lower molecular weight monomers and dimers, followed by grape variety Chardonnay, while the Merlot variety contained much lower levels of individual and total procyanidins. Soaking selected fruits and fruit by-products in the extraction solvent overnight before starting the extraction process increased procyanidins extracted by 24-100% from grape seeds and 0-30% with berry procyanidin sources. Our results indicated a wide variation in the procyanidin contents among different varieties of grape seeds that could have implications in the selection of procyanidin-rich germplasm. Soaking samples in the extraction solvent for 16 h resulted in increased procyanidins extracted and thus higher calculated concentrations in the food samples tested.

Technical Abstract: Fruits and fruit byproducts are a rich source of polyphenols, including procyanidins, which are known to have numerous potential health benefits. We investigated if varietal differences existed in the procyanidin composition of grape seed and if soaking in extraction solvent overnight prior to extraction improved the recovery of procyanidins from grape seed, grape pomace, blueberry, and cranberry powder. Riesling contained the highest amount of procyanidins, including the lower molecular weight monomers and dimers, followed by Chardonnay (60%), while Merlot contained much lower levels (14%) of individual and total procyanidins. A modified method of extraction whereby selected fruits and fruit by-products were soaked in the extraction solvent overnight before starting the extraction process increased procyanidins extracted by 24-100% from grape seeds and 0-30% with berry procyanidin sources. Our results indicated a wide variation in the procyanidin contents among different varieties of grape seeds that could have implications in the selection of procyanidin-rich germplasm. Soaking samples in the extraction solvent for 16 h resulted in increased procyanidins extracted and thus higher calculated concentrations in the food samples tested.