Phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity in fruits of six Diospyros kaki genotypes

Fruits from six persimmon (Diospyros kaki) genotypes were compared for phenolic compounds and their antioxidant capacity in this study. The results showed that all fruit extracts exhibited strong antioxidant activities, which generally correlated positively with the total phenolic contents, total flavonoid contents, and total flavanol contents. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis revealed that gallic acid and quercetin were the major phenolic components in the fruit extracts of six D. kaki genotypes. Hierarchical cluster analysis showed that wild genotype D. kaki. var. Silvestris Makino belongs to the group with high phenolic content and strong antioxidant ability, while astringent genotypes D. kaki. cv. Xiuningbianshi and D. kaki. cv. Zhouqumomoshi are arranged in one group characterized by moderate phenolic content and antioxidant capacity, the non-astringent genotypes D. kaki. cv. Zenjimaru, D. kaki. cv. Jiro and the astringent genotype D. kaki. cv. Xingyangshuishi belongs to the third group because of their low phenolic content and weak antioxidant activity. On the basis of the results obtained, the persimmon fruit could be a potential source of natural antioxidants for food and pharmaceutical applications.