Comparative assessment of phytochemical profiles and antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) cultivars.

The present study was designed to analyze and compare phytochemical activities of four different cultivars of kiwifruit. Among all investigated varieties, Hua You (HY) and Cui Xiang (CUX) displayed the maximum concentration of phytochemical content, and the highest total phenolic results were observed in HY and CUX cultivars with 220.20 ± 1.12 mg GAE/100 g and 218.04 ± 1.11 mg GAE/100 g FW, respectively. Likewise, the richest total flavonoids results were estimated in red kiwifruit (RKF) and CUX varieties with 49.082 ± 0.14 mg CE/100 g FW and 48.327 ± 0.14 mg CE/100 g FW, respectively. Moreover, tests for oxygen radical scavenging capacity (ORAC) and peroxyl radical scavenging capacity (PSC) were observed maximum in RKF cultivar showing 131.229 ± 5.91 μM Trolox equivalent/g FW and 85.957 ± 11.75 μM vitamin C equivalent/g FW, respectively. Furthermore, the highest cellular antioxidant activity (CAA) with No PBS wash protocol was depicted in RKF 237.544 ± 4.12 μM QE equivalent/g FW with the lowest EC50 0.0128 mg/ml. In addition, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis confirmed the presence of ferulic acid, naringin, gallic acid, syringic acid, caffeic acid, rutin, protocatechuic acid, salicylic acid, and catechin in kiwifruit. Catechin as one main content in our study is consistent with the recent reports. The result suggested that the phytochemical profile and bioactivities were significantly affected by the type of cultivars. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Kiwifruit is widely consumed over the world for its rich nutritious and medicinal values. Currently, phytochemicals are considered as one of the main bioactive components of kiwifruits, which are responsible for lots of bioactivities, such as antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, hypoglycemic, and hypolipidemic activities. There are varieties of kiwifruits, and the bioactive components and bioactivities are greatly affected by the cultivars. But there have been no comparative studies on the phytochemicals from different varieties. This study aimed to make a comprehensive assessments of the free, bound, and total phenolics and flavonoids, as well as the chemical-based and cell-based antioxidant activities of four different subspecies of kiwifruit. This work would be beneficial to elucidate the function differences of different kiwifruit phytochemicals, promote its further research, as well as provide a basis for selecting cultivars.