Component characteristics and reactive oxygen species scavenging activity of anthocyanins from fruits of Lonicera caerulea L.

In this study, we qualitatively and quantitatively characterized anthocyanins from 61 different Lonicera caerulea L. genotypes harvested from northeast China and measured their reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging activity. Among the anthocyanin extracts obtained, nine anthocyanins were identified, and the anthocyanin compositions could be divided into three classes and seven subtypes according to their numbers and distribution. Furthermore, their total content by fresh weight was ranged from 158.44 mg/100 g to 1751.44 mg/100 g across all genotypes; their hydroxyl radical scavenging activity and superoxide anion scavenging activity ranged from 13.3 %-99.9 % and 21.5 %-82.8 %, respectively. We also deployed Grey Relational Analysis to determine which anthocyanin was the key antioxidant component in the nine anthocyanins. The relation between the ROS scavenging activity and the 9 anthocyanin content was established. Our results suggest cyanidin-3,5-diglucoside has the greatest correlation to the ROS scavenging activity of the anthocyanin extractions.