Composition and antioxidant activity of anthocyanins isolated from Yunnan edible rose (An ning)

Edible roses (An ning) are a good source of anthocyanins and grown widely in Yunnan Province of China. In this study, the contents of anthocyanins and total phenol as well as the antioxidant activity of methanol extract from specific variety of rose were systematically investigated. The results showed that anthocyanins and total phenolic content of the petals were (353.56 ± 2.50) mg cyanidin 3,5-diglucoside (Cy-3,5-diglu) equivalents and (2087.43 ± 17.37) mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE) per 100 g fresh weight (FW), respectively. Totally, 3 kinds of anthocyanins were detected and Cy-3,5-diglu was the predominant constituent which accounted for approximately 94.9% of total anthocyanins according to the analysis results of high performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array detection (HPLC-PAD). Data demonstrated that the extract from edible rose exhibited excellent ferric reducing capacity and free radical scavenging activity against both 2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS). The equivalents of anthocyanins from roses on DPPH, ABTS and ferric reducing ability were 2089, 639 mg and 1400 mg GAE per 100 g FW, respectively. The high anthocyanins content and excellent antioxidant activity suggested that Yunnan edible roses could be applied in food industry as a good source of natural pigments.