Isolation and identification of carotenoids in the fruit of cornelian cherry (Cornus mas L.)

The edible fruits of Cornelian cherry are most frequently used to produce drinks, sweets, gels and jams as well as in cookery. They can be utilized in medicine, as well, against diarrhoea and enteritis due to their tannin content. The fresh fruits of this medicinal plant have an antioxidant effect that can be attributed to their flavonoids and anthocyanidins [1]. Most current research focuses on the proposed role of carotenoids as lipid antioxidants. Consumption of fruits has been shown to be effective in the prevention of chronic and degenerative diseases, including cancer [2–3]. In this study our research focuses primarily on the separation and identification of carotenoids in the fruits of Cornelian cherry. The fresh berries were separately extracted with MeOH/Et₂O. The combined extract was saponified in heterogeneous phase (30% KOH/MeOH) and was distributed between MeOH: H₂O (9:1) and hexane. The distribution resulted in a hypophasic and an epiphasic fraction. The HPLC (column: 250×4,6mm, Merck LiChrospher 100 RP-18 endcapped; solvent system: (A) 12% H₂O/MeOH, (B) MeOH, (C) 50% acetone/MeOH, gradient program; detector: Dionex PDA-100, λ=450 nm) and CC (CaCO₃ adsorbent, eluent: mixture of toluene and hexane) analysis of the hypophasic fraction resulted in the identification of the following carotenoids: (all-E)-neoxanthin, (9'Z)-neoxanthin, epimers of neochrome or luteoxanthin, lutein-5,6-epoxide, lutein, (9Z)+(9'Z)-lutein, (13Z)+(13'Z)-lutein. In the epiphasic fraction lutein, β-cryptoxanthin, β-carotene-5,6-monoepoxide, β,β-carotene were identified.

Acknowledgements: This study was supported by the grant OTKA K 60121 (Hungarian National Research Foundation).

References: [1] I. Schönfelder, P. Schönfelder (2001) Der neue Kosmos Heilpflanzenführer. Franckh-Kosmos Verlags- GmbH and Co., Stuttgart [2] G. Britton, S. Liaaen-Jensen, H. Pfander (1995) Carotenoids, Vol. 1A, Isolation and Analysis, Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel-Boston-Berlin [3] P. Molnár, M. Kawase, N. Motohashi (ed. N. Motohashi) (2005) In Functional Polyphenols and Carotenoids with Antioxidative Action, a review book series of Chem. Pharm. Sci. (RSFLASH, Trivandrum-695 023, Kerala, India), pp. 111–131.