Analysis of proanthocyanidins and flavonols in the seedpods of Chinese Antique Lotus: A rich source of antioxidants

Xiaohan Wang; Bing Li; Shanshan Sun; Qingqing Liu; Jin Zhu; Xian Zhou; Huijin Zhang; Qian Wu; Liangsheng Wang

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.135756

Analysis of proanthocyanidins and flavonols in the seedpods of Chinese Antique Lotus: A rich source of antioxidants

Food Chem. 2023 Jul 30:415:135756. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.135756. Epub 2023 Feb 24.

Authors

Xiaohan Wang¹, Bing Li¹, Shanshan Sun¹, Qingqing Liu², Jin Zhu¹, Xian Zhou¹, Huijin Zhang³, Qian Wu⁴, Liangsheng Wang⁵

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China; China National Botanical Garden, Beijing 100093, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
² Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics and Resources, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, Shanghai 201602, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China; China National Botanical Garden, Beijing 100093, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China; China National Botanical Garden, Beijing 100093, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁵ Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China; China National Botanical Garden, Beijing 100093, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 36863237
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.135756

Abstract

Antique Lotus (Nelumbo) is a perennial aquatic plant with unique historical significance and cultural value, whereas its potential economic value hasn't been fully explored. The present study showed that lotus seedpods had significantly higher antioxidant capacity than other parts by FRAP, ABTS, and ORAC assays and analyzed the proanthocyanidins and flavonols in the seedpods of Antique Lotus. Polyphenols contributed to great antioxidant activity and 51 polyphenols were identified by UPLC-TQ-MS analysis. In which, 27 compounds were identified from lotus seedpods for the first time, including 20 trimers, 5 dimers and 2 tetramers of proanthocyanidin. Total proanthocyanidins explained 70%-90% of the different antioxidant activities and the content of proanthocyanidin trimers showed the strongest correlations with the antioxidant activities. This study provided a fundamental reference for the research of polyphenols in lotus and found that Antique Lotus seedpod extracts have the promising prospects of additives used in feed and food processing.

Keywords: Antioxidant activity; Antique Lotus; Lotus seedpod; Proanthocyanidin.

MeSH terms

Antioxidants / analysis
Flavonols / analysis
Lotus* / chemistry
Plant Extracts
Polyphenols / analysis
Proanthocyanidins* / analysis
Seeds / chemistry

Substances

Antioxidants
Flavonols
Plant Extracts
Polyphenols
Proanthocyanidins