Determination of ellagic acid in pseudofruits of some species of roses.

Ellagic acid (EA) is known as a naturally occurring dietary antimutagen and anticarcinogen with strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. An SPE RP HPLC method was optimized and applied for identification and determination of ellagic acid in hips of fourteen species of roses, wildly growing in Poland. A large amount of total EA, ranged from 487.2 to 1065.2 microg/g of dry material was found. The results suggest that studied materials are good sources of dietary ellagic acid and could be used as a natural antioxidant and functional food.