title: Identification and quantification of betalains from the fruits of 10 mexican prickly pear cultivars by high-performance liquid chromatography and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.
abstract: Qualitative and quantitative analyses of betalain pigments in 10 cultivars/lines of prickly pear (Opuntia spp.) fruit grown in Mexico were conducted with reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection (HPLC-DAD) coupled with electrospray mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). Betacyanins and betaxanthins were identified by comparison with the UV/vis and mass spectrometric characteristics as well as the retention times of semisynthesized reference betaxanthins. Data revealed that the ratio and concentration of betalain pigments are responsible for the color in the different cultivars, showing the highest betalains content in the fruit of purple colored Camuesa (O. robusta Wendl.) (8.1 mg/g dry fruit), which is comparable to that found in red beet Beta vulgaris L. ssp. Var. Pablo) (8.6 mg/g dry tissue). Yellow betalains were absent in Reyna (O. alba-carpa) prickly pear cultivar. A total of 24 known/unknown betalains were present in the prickly pear fruit samples studied, including 18 betaxanthins and 6 betacyanins. Our results indicate that prickly pear cultivars can be considered as a potential source of yellow and red natural colorants.
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Avenida de las Ciencias s/n, Juriquilla, 76230 Querétaro, Mexico.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Castellanos-Santiago
authors.forename: Elhadi M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Yahia
mesh_terms: D050858:Betalains / Q000032:analysis*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry*; D029747:Opuntia / Q000737:chemistry*; D013045:Species Specificity; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization
chemical_list: D050858:Betalains