Characterisation and preliminary bioactivity determination of Berberis boliviana Lechler fruit anthocyanins

摘要

Berberis boliviana Lechler is a member of the Berberidaceae family that has a small edible red-purple berry. The plant is native to the Peruvian Andes and contains high amounts of anthocyanin pigments. The monomeric anthocyanin content, determined by a pH-differential method, was 7/100 g of seedless berries. Pigments were characterised by HPLC coupled to a photodiode array (PDA) and mass spectropho-tometer (MS) detectors. Five aglycones and ten anthocyanins were found and identified as petunidin-3-glucoside (24.4％), delphinidin-3-glucoside (24.1％), malvidin-3-glucoside (22.1％), cyanidin-3-glucoside (10.2％), petunidin-3-rutinoside (7.15％), malvidin-3-rutinoside (4.9％), cyanidin-3-rutinoside (3.8％), delphinidin-3-rutinoside (2.6％), peonidin-3-glucoside (1.1％), and peonidin-3-rutinoside (0.9％). The brine shrimp lethality test (BST) with Artemia salina Leach showed a median lethal concentration (MLC) of 247 μg/ml of B. boliviana L. pigments, suggesting that they should be considered for further pharmacological studies.