Comparative analysis of pigments in red and yellow banana fruit

• Published in: Food chemistry 2018-01, Vol.239, p.1009-1018
• Main Authors: Fu, Xiumin, Cheng, Sihua, Liao, Yinyin, Huang, Bingzhi, Du, Bing, Zeng, Wei, Jiang, Yueming, Duan, Xuewu, Yang, Ziyin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anthocyanin; Banana fruit; Carotenoid; Carotenoids; Color; Flavonoid; Fruit; Musa; Pigment; Pigmentation
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2017.07.046

•Red banana fruit contained carotenoid, anthocyanin, and flavonol pigments.•Red banana peel color was determined by some rutinoside derivatives of anthocyanins.•Lutein, α-carotene, and β-carotene were main carotenoids in banana fruit.•Carotenoids are more important than flavonoids in providing yellow color. Color is an important characteristic determining the fruit value. Although ripe bananas usually have yellow peels, several banana cultivars have red peels. As details of the pigments in banana fruits are unknown, we investigated these pigments contents and compositions in the peel and pulp of red cultivar ‘Hongjiaowang’ and yellow cultivar ‘Baxijiao’ by UPLC-PDA-QTOF-MS and HPLC-PDA techniques. The ‘Hongjiaowang’ peel color was mainly determined by the presence of anthocyanin-containing epidermal cells. Rutinoside derivatives of cyanidin, peonidin, petunidin, and malvidin were unique to the red peel, and possibly responsible for the red color. ‘Hongjiaowang’ contained higher total content of carotenoids than ‘Baxijiao’ in both pulp and peel. Lutein, α-carotene, and β-carotene were main carotenoids, which might play a more important role than flavonoids in producing the yellow banana color owing to the properties and distribution in the fruit. The information will help us understand a complete profile of pigments in banana.