Composition of tannins was investigated on unripe fruits of apricot, quince, apple, peach, Japanese pear, loquat, plum, and Japanese apricot, and on ripe fruits of pear and cherry. On the two-dimensional paper chromatograms, mobile and immobile associated tannins (AT) and several low molecular phenolic substances such as (+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin, chlorogenic, and neochlorogenic acids were found for all fruit extracts. Contents of AT for eight unripe fruits were 70-92%, and those for ripe cherry and pear were both 52%. By treatment with 0.1N HCl, catechins, Chlorogenic acids, and mobile AT were produced from immobile AT, and with 2N HCl, cyanidin was produced. Such degradation of AT occurred to smaller extent also when its aqueous solution was boiled. It was, therefore, presumed that the immobile AT was the associated compound of catechins, chlorogenic acids, and leucocyanidin. This AT was not oxidized by polyphenol oxidase of those fruits, and consequently, the browning of fruits was considered to be due to the enzymic oxidation of low molecular phenolic substances.
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