Antioxidant and Antiproliferative Activities of Anthocyanin/Ellagitannin-Enriched Extracts From Syzygium cumini L. (Jamun, the Indian Blackberry)

Colored fruits, particularly berries, are highly chemoprotective because of their antioxidant, antiproliferative, and antiinflammatory activities. We report the cancer chemoprotective potential of Syzygium cumini L., commonly known as jamun or Indian blackberry. Anthocyanins and other polyphenolics were extracted with acidic ethanol and enriched by amberlite XAD7/HP20 (1:1). The pulp powder was found to contain 0.54% anthocyanins, 0.17% ellagic acid/ellagitannins, and 1.15% total polyphenolics. Jamun seed contained no detectable anthocyanins but had higher amounts of ellagic acid/ellagitannins (0.5%) and total polyphenolics (2.7%) than the pulp powder. Upon acid hydrolysis, the pulp extract yielded 5 anthocyanidins by HPLC: malvidin (44.4%), petunidin (24.2%), delphinidin (20.3%), cyanidin (6.6%), and peonidin (2.2%). Extracts of both jamun pulp (1,445 +/- 64 mu mol of trolox equivalent (TE)/g) and seeds (3,379 +/- 151 mu M of TE/g) showed high oxygen radical absorbance capacity. Their high antioxidant potential was also reflected by 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid)- and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl-scavenging and ferrous ion-chelating activities. We also analyzed antiproliferative activity of jamun extracts against human lung cancer A549 cells. The hydrolyzed pulp and seed extracts showed significant antiproliferative activity. However, unhydrolyzed extracts showed much less activity. These data showed that in addition to 5 anthocyanidins, jamun contains appreciable amounts of ellagic acid/ellagitannins, with high antioxidant and antiproliferative activities.