Scientia Horticulturae 216 (2017) 186–192 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Scientia Horticulturae journal h om epa ge: www.elsevier.com/locate/scihorti Research Paper Phenolic antioxidant profiles in the whole fruit, flesh and peel of apple cultivars grown in Lithuania Lina Raudone a,∗ , Raimondas Raudonis a , Mindaugas Liaudanskas a , Valdimaras Janulis a , Pranas Viskelis b a Department of Pharmacognosy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Eiveniu str. 4, LT- 50161, Kaunas, Lithuania b Institute of Horticulture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Kauno str. 30, LT-54333, Babtai, Kaunas distr., Lithuania a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 13 September 2016 Received in revised form 2 January 2017 Accepted 5 January 2017 Keywords: Apples Antioxidant HPLC-DAD-FRAP a b s t r a c t In this study total phenolic content (TPC), total ferric reducing antioxidant power, individual phenolics and their contributed antioxidant activity were determined by Folin-Ciocalteu, FRAP and HPLC-DAD coupled to FRAP post-column assays in the whole fruit, flesh and peel of six Lithuanian grown apple cultivars. The greatest TPC and total antioxidant activity were determined in ‘Aldas’ and ‘Auksis’ cultivars. Significant amounts of flavonols were determined in peels, while flavan-3-ols in apple parts varied. (−)- Epicatechin, procyanidins B2, C1 and chlorogenic acid were predominant reducing compounds in whole apple fruits. Hyperoside, avicularin and quercitrin were significant reducing compounds in peels. The cultivars with highly expressed flavan-3-ol fraction could be used in preparation of highly antioxidant active natural products. © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Apples are one of the most consumed fruits all over the word (Feliciano et al., 2010). They contain biologically active compounds of various classes: pectins, dietary fibres, vita- mins, oligosaccharides, triterpenic acids and phenolic compounds (Figuerola et al., 2005; Hyson, 2011; Vasco et al., 2009). Due to its high accessibility apples are one of the largest contribu- tors of phenolic intake in European and USA diet (Wolfe and Liu, 2003). Apple intakes have been associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases, certain cancers, diabetes. Additionally apples have been shown to affect weight and can reduce choles- terol levels (Kalinowska et al., 2014; Koch et al., 2009). The main health effects have been ascribed to a complex of phenolic com- pounds (flavonols, dihydrochalcones, flavan-3-ols, anthocyanins, hydrocinnamic acids) (Duda-Chodak et al., 2010; Kalinowska et al., 2014; Koch et al., 2009; Serra et al., 2012). These compounds possess antioxidant activity, therefore apple extracts can be incor- porated in various convergent products of health, nutrition and cosmetics providing nutraceuticals, cosmeceuticals and nutricos- metics (Barel et al., 2014). The main factor determining the amount of bioactive compounds is the apple cultivar. Scientific research has ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: raudone.lina@gmail.com (L. Raudone), farmakog@lsmuni.lt (R. Raudonis), farmakog@lsmuni.lt (M. Liaudanskas), farmakog@lsmuni.lt (V. Janulis), biochem@lsdi.lt (P. Viskelis). proven significant differences and intraspecific variations of phe- nolic complex in different apple cultivars (Ceymann et al., 2012; Minnocci et al., 2010; Serra et al., 2012). Their quantitative traits vary considerably and depend on environmental parameters, cul- tivation practices, harvestingand storage conditions(Feliciano et al., 2010; Kalinowska et al., 2014; Koch et al., 2009; Marks et al., 2007; McGhie et al., 2005). A number of studies have determined total antioxidant activ- ities of the phenolic rich extracts of various apple fruits (Serra et al., 2010; Vieira et al., 2009; Wojdyło et al., 2008). Neverthe- less, information regarding the impact of individual compounds on antioxidant activity, as well as, their feasibility becoming activ- ity markers, is still lacking. It is important to identify individual phenolic compounds possessing significant antioxidant activity for the proper choice of apple materials for functional products. HPLC-DAD-FRAP modern post-column system comprehensively characterized a full picture of phenolic and antioxidant profiles of whole fruits, flesh and peels of ‘Aldas’, ‘Auksis’, ‘Connel Red’, ‘Ligol’, ‘Lodel’, ‘Rajka’ cultivars during this multiannual study. 2. Materials and methods 2.1. Reagents and standards All the reagents and standards were of analytical grade. HPLC-grade acetonitrile, acetic acid, iron(III) chloride hexahy- drate (FeCl 3 × 6H 2 O), 2,4,6-tripyridyl-s-triazine (TPTZ), sodium http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2017.01.005 0304-4238/© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.