Characterization and antioxidative properties of oligomeric proanthocyanidin from prunes, dried fruit of Prunus domestica L.

A prune extract was separated by an antioxidant-guided assay to obtain an oligomeric proanthocyanidin fraction. The antioxidative oligomer was characterized as a procyanidin oligomer with an average polymerization degree of five and composed of epicatechin and catechin units. The antioxidative activity of the oligomer showed greater potency than chlorogenic acid which is known as an antioxidative component in prunes.