250 Adv. Hort. Sci., 2008 22(4): 250-254 (1) Corresponding author: gorin@cc.huji.ac.il Received for publication 28 May 2008. Accepted for publication 2 July 2008. Nutraceutical value of persimmon (Diospyros kaki Thunb.) and its influence on some indices of atherosclerosis in an experiment on rats fed cholesterol-containing diet Y.-S. Park*, H. Leontowicz**, M. Leontowicz**, J. Namiesnik***, I. Jesion**, S. Gorinstein**** (1) * Department of Horticultural Science, Mokpo National University, Muan Jeonnam, South Korea. ** Department of Physiological Sciences, Warsaw Agricultural University, Warsaw, Poland. *** Chemical Faculty, Gdansk University of Technology, Gdansk, Poland. **** Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products, School of Pharmacy, The Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel. Key words: bioactive compounds, cultivars, persimmon, plasma lipids and antioxidant activity rats. Abstract: The nutraceutic value of persimmon (Diospyros kaki Thunb. cv. Triumph) and its influence on some indices of atherosclerosis were studied in vitro and in experiment on rats fed cholesterol-containing diet. It was found that persimmon possesses a high nutraceutical value: it contains soluble fibers, total polyphenols and phe- nolic acids. The content of dietary fiberwas 1.83 ± 0.11, 0.69 ± 0.07 and 1.14 ± 0.12 g/100 g fresh weight (FW) for total, soluble and insoluble fibers, respectively, 1.55 ± 0.11 g/100 g FW of total polyphenols and 10.29 ±/0.9, 21.89/± 2.2, 6.5/± 0.5, 0.71/± 0.05 and 58.2 ±/5.1 mg/100 g FW of ferulic, gallic, protocatechuic, vanillic and p-cou- maric acids, respectively. Radical scavenging activity (RSA) with the 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method, a nitric oxide and -carotene tests has shown 88% for methanolic persimmon extracts. The properties of fresh and dry persimmon were compared. High correlation was found between polyphenols and RSAwith dif- ferent tests (R 2 ranges between 0.9535 and 0.9934). Addition of persimmon to the diets did not affect diet intake, its efficiency or body weight gains of rats. Other persimmon cultivars (Fuyu and Jiro) were compared with cv. Triumph in vitro and in vivo studies. ‘Fuyu’was more effective than ‘Jiro’. Diets supplemented with whole fruit positively influenced some indices of atherosclerosis in serum of rats fed a cholesterol-containing diet: it hinde- red the rise of lipid levels and the decrease in the antioxidant activity. 1. Introduction Epidemiological studies, experiments on laboratory animals and investigations of humans show that con- sumption of fruits and vegetables is associated with a low risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancer (Chahoud et al., 2004; Dauchet et al., 2006). The health properties of these natural products depend on the contents of bioactive compounds, mainly pheno- lics, and partly on dietary fibers (Dauchet et al ., 2006). Persimmon (Diospyros kaki Thunb. cv. Triumph) is among widely consumed fruits. Some researchers have shown that persimmon is one of the most bioactive fruits, especially in polyphenols and tannins (Uchida et al., 1990; Piretti, 1991; Daood et al ., 1992; Achiwa et al., 1997). We also found in in vitro investigations that persimmon (cv. Triumph) possesses high contents of dietary fibers, trace elements and total polyphenols, and has a high antioxidant potential (Jung et al., 2005). The aim of the present investigation was to assess the nutraceutical value of persimmon (cv. Triumph) and its influence on some indices of atherosclerosis in an experiment on rats fed a cholesterol-containing diet. Two additional cultivars (Jiro and Fuyu) were used in the present study. 2. Materials and Methods Chemicals 6-Hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethylchroman-2-carboxy- lic acid (Trolox), 2,2-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzthiazoline- 6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhy- drazyl (DPPH), Folin-Ciocalteu reagent (FCR), b-caro- tene, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), Greiss reagent, sodium nitroprusside, phenolic acids (ferulic, gallic, protocatechuic, vanillic and p-coumaric) were purcha- sed from Sigma (Germany).