Isolation of dimeric, trimeric, tetrameric and pentameric procyanidins from unroasted cocoa beans (Theobroma cacao L.) using countercurrent chromatography

authored by

T. Esatbeyoglu, V. Wray, P. Winterhalter

Abstract

The main procyanidins, including dimeric B2 and B5, trimeric C1, tetrameric and pentameric procyanidins, were isolated from unroasted cocoa beans (Theobroma cacao L.) using various techniques of countercurrent chromatography, such as high-speed countercurrent chromatography (HSCCC), low-speed rotary countercurrent chromatography (LSRCCC) and spiral-coil LSRCCC. Furthermore, dimeric procyanidins B1 and B7, which are not present naturally in the analysed cocoa beans, were obtained after semisynthesis of cocoa bean polymers with (+)-catechin as nucleophile and separated by countercurrent chromatography. In this way, the isolation of dimeric procyanidin B1 in considerable amounts (500 mg, purity > 97%) was possible in a single run. This is the first report concerning the isolation and semisynthesis of dimeric to pentameric procyanidins from T. cacao by countercurrent chromatography. Additionally, the chemical structures of tetrameric (cinnamtannin A2) and pentameric procyanidins (cinnamtannin A3) were elucidated on the basis of

¹H NMR spectroscopy. Interflavanoid linkage was determined by NOE-correlations, for the first time.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Food Science and Human Nutrition
Molecular Food Chemistry and Food Development

Type

Article

Journal

Food Chemistry

Volume

179

Pages

278-289

No. of pages

ISSN

0308-8146

Publication date

15.07.2015

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Analytical Chemistry, Food Science

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2015.01.130 (Access: Unknown)