Anthocyanin Content in the Flowers of Common Lilac Varieties (Syringa vulgaris L.)

For the first time, the methods of high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass-spectrometry (HPLC-MS) and pH differential method spectrophotometry were used for the detailed study of qualitative and quantitative composition of the anthocyanin spectrum of the flowers of 14 common lilac varieties (Syringa vulgaris L), belonging to various colour groups of introduced specimens of the in vitro collection of the Central Botanical Garden of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, of Belarus. Based on the findings of chromatography, spectral measurements and their comparison with authentic samples, and according to literature data, lilac flower anthocyanins were identified as coumaroyl-hexosides or rutinosides of delphinidin and cyanidin. All varieties can be divided for convenience into three groups according to the presence and content of delphinidin and cyanidin derivatives: not containing any (light colours: white, bluish); containing only cyanidin derivatives (dark colours); containing delphinidin and cyanidin derivatives (complex colours: pinkish lilac, violet blue, lilac violet). It is established that anthocyanin content varies depending on the colour; according to HPLC, flowers either do not contain anthocyanins, or contain them in the range of 0.32–3.80 mg/100 g dry weight; according to pH differential spectrophotometry, the flowers contain 0.03–3.71 mg/100 g dry weight anthocyanin pigments. The obtained data will give additional information about documenting lilac varieties; their description is published on the Internet, in the HBC-Info information storage and retrieval system ( http://hbc.bas-net.by ).