The flavonoids of tomatoes

Tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) have been. recognized as an important source of dietary flavonoids because of a high consumption worldwide. The qualitative and quantitative flavonoid compositions of assorted tomato cultivars including individual quantitative contributions of the five most significant flavonoids have been determined in this work. The dihydrochalcone phloretin 3',25'-di-C-beta-glucopyranoside and the flavonol quercetin 3-O-(2 ''-O-beta-apiofuranosyl-6 ''-O-alpha-rhamnopyranosyl-beta-glucopyranoside) were identified for the first time in Solanaceae spp. and found to be among the main flavonoids in all cultivars. Phloretin 3'5'-di-C-glc is the first C-glycoside identified in tomatoes and also the first dihydrochalcone from this species. In addition, chalconaringenin, kaempferol 3-rutinoside, and quercetin 3-rutinoside (rutin), though previously reported to occur in tomato, were fully characterized by extensive use of 2D NMR techniques and high-resolution LCMS. The total flavonoid content of different tomato types varied from 4 to 26 mg 100(-1) g FW with chalconaringenin as the predominant compound comprising 35 to 71% of the total flavonoid content. The individual quantities of quercetin 3-O-(2 ''-O-beta-apiofuranosyl-6 ''-O-alpha-rhamnopyranosyl-beta-glucopyranoside) and phloretin 3',5'-di-C-beta-glucopyranoside was similar to that of rutin in several cultivars.