Molecules (Sep 2018)

Effect of Storage Conditions on Phenolic Profiles and Antioxidant Activity of Litchi Pericarp

  • Mei Deng,
  • Yuanyuan Deng,
  • Lihong Dong,
  • Yongxuan Ma,
  • Lei Liu,
  • Fei Huang,
  • Zhencheng Wei,
  • Yan Zhang,
  • Mingwei Zhang,
  • Ruifen Zhang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules23092276
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 23, no. 9
p. 2276

Abstract

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Changes of phenolic profiles and antioxidant activity of litchi pericarp during storage at 4 °C for seven days and at room temperature (RT) for 72 h were evaluated in this study. The contents of total phenolic and procyanidin decreased by 20.2% and 24.2% at 4 °C and by 37.8% and 47.8% at RT, respectively. Interestingly, the corresponding reductions of anthocyanins were 41.3% and 73%, respectively. Four phenolic compounds, including epicatechin, procyanidin A2, procyanidin B2, and quercetin-3-O-rutinoside-7-O-α-l-rhamnosidase were detected in litchi pericarp. Their contents after storage at 4 °C and at RT were decreased by 22.1–49.7% and 27.6–48.7%, respectively. The oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) and cellular antioxidant activity (CAA) of litchi pericarp decreased by 17.6% and 58.7% at 4 °C, and by 23.4% and 66.0% at RT, respectively. The results indicated that storage at 4 °C preserved more phenolics and retained higher antioxidant activity in litchi pericarp compared to storage at RT, suggesting that storage at 4 °C should be considered as a more effective method for slowing down the degradation of litchi pericarp phenolics.

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