Flavonoids have been studied extensively because they offer great potential health benefits. In thisstudy, enzy
matic hydrolysis of glycosylated quercetin, kae
mpferol, and naringin was used to obtaintheir sugar-free aglycones. The investigation also e
mployed a validated HPLC
method to obtain thechiral disposition of the aglycone naringenin enantio
mers. These analyses were conducted on exocarp,
mesocarp, and seed cavity tissues of field-grown to
mato (
Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.)
mutants(
anthocyanin absent,
atroviolacea, and
high pigment-1) and their nearly isogenic parent (cv. AilsaCraig) at i
mmature green, "breaker", and red ripe
maturity stages. Concentrations of all flavonoidsusing enzy
matic hydrolysis were significantly higher than previously reported concentrations usingacid hydrolysis. Presu
mably, this occurred due to a
more specific and rapid hydrolysis of the glycoside
moiety by the
![](/i<font color=)
mages/gifchars/beta2.gif" BORDER=0 ALIGN="
middle">-glucosidase enzy
me. The glycoside
S-naringin was the predo
minant enantio
mer inall fruit tissues, although the aglycones free
R- and
S-naringenin were detected in both exocarp and
mesocarp. Whereas there was significantly
more quercetin than kae
mpferol in exocarp tissue, theywere present in about equal concentrations in the
mesocarp. Quercetin concentrations were higherin the exocarp and
mesocarp of i
mmature green and breaker fruit of the
high pigment-1 mutant thanin the other genotypes, supporting the observed photoprotection and potential health benefits of the
high pigment-1 to
mato genotype.Keywords: Quercetin; kae
mpferol; naringenin; naringin; enantio
mer;
maturity stage; HPLC; enzy
matichydrolysis