Identification and antioxidant properties of polyphenols in lotus seed epicarp at different ripening stages

In this study, polyphenols from lotus seed epicarp (PLSE) at three different ripening stages were purified by column chromatography and identified by RP-HPLC and HPLC-ESI-MS(2). The antioxidant activities of PLSE were also investigated. We found that the contents of PLSE at the green ripening stage, half ripening stage and full ripening stage are 13.08%, 10.95% and 6.73% respectively. The levels of catechin, epicatechin, hyperoside, and isoquercitrin in PLSE at the three different ripening stages were different. Moreover, the amounts of catechin and epicatechin decreased, while the contents of hyperoside and isoquercitrin increased as the seed ripened. We found that PLSE at three different ripening stages had good scavenging abilities on DPPH and ABTS(+) radicals. However, the scavenging ability decreased with maturation. Our results may be valuable with regard to the utilization of lotus seed epicarp as a functional food material.