Phytochemical Composition and Antioxidant Activities of Two Different Color Chrysanthemum Flower Teas

Abstract

Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat is a perennial flowering plant widely cultivated for use in a tea infusion and as a popular beverage. To identify and evaluate the tea infusion made with a γ-irradiated mutant chrysanthemum cultivar with dark purple petals (cv. ARTI-Dark Chocolate), its phytochemical composition and antioxidant activity were tested and compared with those of the commercially available chrysanthemum cultivar with yellow petals (cv. Gamguk) by HPLC-DAD-ESIMS, as well as DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging assays. The purple chrysanthemum tea contained anthocyanins and linarin, which were not detected in the yellow chrysanthemum tea and the content of chlorogenic acid, acacetin-7-O-β-glucoside, and luteolin was higher compared with the yellow chrysanthemum tea. In contrast, the yellow chrysanthemum tea had higher luteolin-7-O-β-glucoside, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, apigenin-7-O-β-glucoside, and apigenin contents in comparison with the purple chrysanthemum tea. In addition, the content and antioxidant activity of the two chrysanthemum teas were investigated according to different water temperatures and infusing time. The yellow chrysanthemum tea did not show any significant differences according to infusing time and temperature, while the purple chrysanthemum tea was more influenced by the infusing time than water temperature, showing the highest total compound content in the infusing condition of 100 °C and 4 min. Moreover, the floral scent volatiles of the two chrysanthemum tea sources were analyzed using HS-SPME-GC-MS. In the DPPH radical scavenging assay, the purple chrysanthemum tea broadly showed greater antioxidant activity than did the yellow chrysanthemum tea, corresponding to the high content of anthocyanins known as the powerful antioxidant. Further, both chrysanthemum flower teas exhibited strong ABTS radical scavenging effects ranging from 76% to 61% under all infusing conditions. Therefore, the purple chrysanthemum cultivar, ARTI-Dark Chocolate, is worthy of breeding as a new tea cultivar.

Keywords: Chrysanthemum tea; HPLC-DAD-ESIMS; HS-SPME-GC-MS; anthocyanin; antioxidant; flavonoid; phenolic acid; volatile.

Figure 1

Photos of chrysanthemum flowers in different colors. (a) Dark purple chrysanthemum cultivar (ARTI-Dark Chocolate, ADC), its manufactured tea bag, and its infusion; (b) Common yellow chrysanthemum cultivar (Gamguk, GG), its manufactured tea bag, and its infusion.

Figure 2

HPLC chromatograms of (a) the dark purple chrysanthemum cultivar (ARTI-Dark Chocolate) infusion and (b) the yellow chrysanthemum cultivar (Gamguk) infusion detected at 280 nm. See Table 1 for the peak numbers and Materials and Methods for the HPLC-DAD-ESIMS conditions.

Figure 3

HPLC chromatograms of the dark purple chrysanthemum cultivar (ARTI-Dark Chocolate) infusion detected at 520 nm. See Table 2 for the peak numbers and Materials and Methods for the HPLC-DAD-ESIMS conditions.

Figure 4

Structures of 11 standard compounds identified in two different color chrysanthemum flowers.

Figure 5

GC chromatograms of (a) the dark purple chrysanthemum cultivar (ARTI-Dark Chocolate) tea material and (b) the yellow chrysanthemum cultivar (Gamguk) tea material. See Table 1 for the peak identification and Materials and Methods for the HS-SPME-GC-MS conditions.