title: Extraction and determination of ellagic acid contentin chestnut bark and fruit.
abstract: Chestnuts are an important economic resource in the chestnut growing regions, not only for the fruit, but also for the wood. The content of ellagic acid (EA), a naturally occurring inhibitor of carcinogenesis, was determined in chestnut fruits and bark. EA was extracted with methanol and free ellagic acid was determined by HPLC with UV detection, both in the crude extract and after hydrolysis. The concentration of EA was generally increased after hydrolysis due to the presence of ellagitannins in the crude extract. The concentration varied between 0.71 and 21.6mgg(-1) (d.w.) in un-hydrolyzed samples, and between 2.83 and 18.4mgg(-1) (d.w.) in hydrolyzed samples. In chestnut fruits, traces of EA were present in the seed, with higher concentrations in the pellicle and pericarp. However, all fruit tissues had lower concentrations of EA than had the bark. The concentration of EA in the hydrolyzed samples showed a non-linear correlation with the concentration in the unhydrolyzed extracts.
authors.affiliation: National Agricultural Research Foundation, Institute of Technology of Agricultural Products, 1,S.Venizelou, Lykovrissi, GR-14123 Athens, Greece. Electronic address: vekir.itap@nagref.gr.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Vekiari
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, Food Biosciences and Pharmacy, The University of Reading, Whiteknights, P.O. Box 226, Reading RG6AP, UK. Electronic address: m.h.gordon@reading.ac.uk.
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, Food Biosciences and Pharmacy, The University of Reading, Whiteknights, P.O. Box 226, Reading RG6AP, UK.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: García-Macías
authors.affiliation: National Agricultural Research Foundation, Institute of Technology of Agricultural Products, 1,S.Venizelou, Lykovrissi, GR-14123 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Labrinea
keywords: Chestnut bark; Chestnut fruit; Ellagic acid; HPLC