Original Article Quantitative high-performance liquid chromatography photo-diode array (HPLC-PDA) analysis of benzophenones and biflavonoids in eight Garcinia species Ulyana Mun ˜oz Acun ˜a a,b , Keyvan Dastmalchi a , Margaret J. Basile c , Edward J. Kennelly a,b, * a Department of Biological Sciences, Lehman College, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468, USA b The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, NY 10016, USA c Department of Neurology, University of Miami School of Medicine, 1501 NW 9th Avenue, Miami, FL 33136, USA 1. Introduction Fruits and vegetables are rich in essential antioxidant nutrients, including the pro-vitamins and vitamins: b-carotene and vitamins C and E. Additional antioxidants, such as polyphenols ingested through the daily diet, increase the antioxidant capacity of plasma (Scalbert and Williamson, 2000) and are an important source of protective compounds against the damaging effects of free- radicals (Cao et al., 1996). The benefits of certain non-nutritional antioxidants such as flavonoids have been evaluated in several epidemiological studies (Hertog et al., 1995; Hollman and Katan, 1998; Kelly, 1998). In particular, it has been shown that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables significantly reduces the incidence and mortality rate of cardiovascular diseases (Hertog et al., 1993), and a high intake of fruit and vegetables has been shown to have protective effects against cancer (Battino et al., 2005; Key et al., 1996; Mills et al., 1989). Garcinia fruits are used frequently as food and sold in local markets in the tropics. Garcinia mangostana L., native to Southeast Asia and commonly called ‘‘mangosteen’’ and the ‘‘queen of fruits’’ (Fu et al., 2007), is highly regarded among connoisseurs who consider it as one of the best-tasting fruits (Morton, 1987). Mangosteen has been marketed to consumers as a ‘‘superfruit’’ with health-beneficial effects in functional food and in dietary supplements (Chin et al., 2008). The nonedible pericarp of G. mangostana has been used in Thai traditional medicine to treat wounds, ulcers and dysentery (Farnsworth and Bunyapraphatsara, 1992). The fruits of G. xanthochymus Hook. f., or ‘‘gamboge’’, are native to India and are used in traditional medicine for treating diarrhea and dysentery (Baggett et al., 2005). The fruits are Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 25 (2012) 215–220 A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 4 February 2011 Received in revised form 14 October 2011 Accepted 16 October 2011 Available online 25 October 2011 Keywords: Liquid chromatography photo-diode array Benzophenones Biflavonoids Superfruit Total phenolic content Antioxidant activity Garcinia aristata Garcinia hombroniana Garcinia intermedia Garcinia livingstonei Garcinia mangostana Garcinia spicata Garcinia xanthochymus Garcinia kola Food composition Food analysis A B S T R A C T Eight Garcinia species including seven edible fruits, Garcinia aristata, G. hombroniana, G. intermedia, G. livingstonei, the ‘‘superfruit’’ G. mangostana, G. spicata, and G. xanthochymus, and the wood of G. kola were analyzed using a validated high-performance liquid chromatography photo-diode array (HPLC-PDA) method. Three benzophenones, guttiferone A, guttiferone E, and xanthochymol, and four biflavonoids amentoflavone, fukugeside, fukugetin, and volkensiflavone were identified and quantified by HPLC-PDA with authentic standards to verify their identity. Garcinia intermedia (IC 50 = 60.1 Æ 27.3 mg/mL) and G. mangostana (IC 50 = 64.3 Æ 11.3 mg/mL) fruits demonstrated the highest antioxidant activity. The highest level of xanthochymol was found in G. spicata (70.50 Æ 1.10 mg/g dry weight), while the highest quantity of guttiferone A was detected in G. intermedia (43.00 Æ 0.30 mg/g dry weight), and thus was determined to be rich in total phenolic content. ß 2012 Published by Elsevier Inc. * Corresponding author at: Department of Biological Sciences, Lehman College, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468, USA. Tel.: +1 718 960 1105; fax: +1 718 960 8236. E-mail address: edward.kennelly@lehman.cuny.edu (E.J. Kennelly). Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Journal of Food Composition and Analysis jo u rn al ho m epag e: ww w.els evier .c om /lo cat e/jfc a 0889-1575/$ – see front matter ß 2012 Published by Elsevier Inc. doi:10.1016/j.jfca.2011.10.006