Determination of Anthocyanins and Flavonols in Paeonia delavayi by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Diode Array and Mass Spectrometric Detection

The colors of the leaves in Paeonia delavayi may be pure green, green-red, or dark red according to their habitat. The goal of this study was to compare the type and the total concentrations of anthocyanins and flavonols in red and green P. delavayi. The constituents and concentration of anthocyanins and flavonols were identified and determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection and mass spectrometry. Cyanidin-3, 5-di-O-glucoside, cyanidin-3-O-glucoside, and peonidin-3-O-glucoside were first determined in red P. delavayi. There were no anthocyanins in green P. delavayi. Seven flavonols were identified in both red and green P. delavayi with differences in their concentrations. The concentrations of total anthocyanins and flavonoids were determined at 525 and 360 nm using the external standard method. The total anthocyanins in red P. delavayi were 152.24 mg/100 g in leaves and 78.92 mg/100 g in stems. The total flavonoids were 805.4 mg/100 g in leaves and 438.3 mg/100 g in stems, which were much higher than in green P. delavayi for both leaves and stems. This study reports composition and concentration differences in red and green P. delavayi based on ecological habitat.