Abstract:

Phenolic content and antioxidant capacity of fruit extracts from 14 plum cultivars，including peel and flesh，were assayed. Polyphenol contents in peel of plums ranged from 1.40 to 3.37 mg · g^-1 FW，which was expressed as gallic acid equivalents，for fresh weight；polyphenol contents in flesh ranged from 0.50 to 0.97 mg · g^-1 FW. The polyphenol contents，both in peel and flesh，were significant different among cultivars（P < 0.01）. However，the contents were great higher in peel than that in flesh. The contents of polyphenol in peel were high in Huanghouli and Zhuganli，and followed by Heibaoshili and Hongmeiguili；and the content in flesh was the highest in Qiujili，and followed by Weikexunli. The scavenging activities of superoxide anion radical（   ），hydroxyl radical（OH·），DPPH，FRAP and TBARS were employed to evaluate the antioxidant activity of plums. The first three main antioxidant cultivars of peel were Huanghouli，Heibaoshili and Zhuganli. And that of flesh was Hongmeilili，Hongmeiguili and Qiujili. It showed that there were remarkable correlation between polyphenol concentrations and antioxidant capacity. According to the relations and comprehensive evaluation，DPPH and FRAP were considered to be the excellent method which used to evaluate antioxidant capacity of plum. There，polyphenol from plums may provide practical antioxidant，which can reduce the harm of free radicals and help people to keep fit.

Key words: Prunus salicina, peel, flesh, polyphenol, antioxidant capacity