Phenolic profile, total bioactive contents, and antioxidant activity of pear fruits

Abstract

This work describes the profiling of phenolic compounds, total phenolic contents, total flavonoid contents, total anthocyanins, and radical scavenging activity of two important cultivars of pears grown in Pakistan. The HPLC-DAD reversed phase chromatography was used to study phenolic compounds. The spectrophotometry was done to measure the total flavonoid contents, total phenolic contents, total anthocyanin contents, and radical scavenging activity. Results showed 21 phenolic compounds in the extract of Comice pears and 16 in Bosc pears. These include 3-caffeoylquinic acid, p-coumaroylhexose-4-hexoside, 5-coumaroylquinic acid, cis-5-coumaroylquinic acid, (+)-catechin-3-glucoside, ellagic acid dihexoside, quercetin-3-rutinoside, eriodictyol-7-rutinoside, 3-hydroxyphloretin-6′-hexoside, (−)-epigallocatechin, quercetin pentosyl hexoside, (−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate, epicatechin-3-(4-methyl)-gallate, rosmarinic acid, cyanidin-3,5-diglucoside, 4-caffeoyl-5-coumaroylquinic acid were major identified phenolic compounds in both Comice and Bosc pears. Except for total anthocyanin contents, there were significant differences between the selected cultivars in terms of total phenolic contents, total flavonoid contents, and radical scavenging activity values. In conclusion, the selected pear samples contain important phenolic compounds and possess antioxidant properties.