Compositional diversity of iridoids, phenolic compounds, and crocins in Gardenia jasminoides fruits of different varieties

: Tian, Ye; Zhou, Ying; Zhang, Youzuo; Ni, Qinxue; Yang, Baoru

: 2026

Food Chemistry

: 149290

: 515

: 0308-8146

: 1873-7072

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2026.149290

: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2026.149290

: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/522982709

By using UPLC-ESI-MS/MS² and HPLC-DAD, 62 phytochemicals were characterized from fruits of Gardenia jasminoides Ellis (GF) and G. jasminoides var. radicans Makino (GFV), mainly covering iridoids, crocins, hydroxycinnamic acids, and flavonols. Most identified compounds were found at higher levels in GF than in GFV. A clear compositional diversity was observed between hulls and dehulled fractions of fruits. The dehulled parts had higher levels of iridoids (71–75 vs. 61–66 mg/g dry weight, DW; 3 biological replicates applied) and crocins (14–21 vs. 10–17 mg/g DW), whereas minor phytochemicals such as hydroxycinnamic acids and flavonols were concentrated in the hulls. The dominant phytochemicals in the dehulled fruits were geniposide (44–46 mg/g DW) and crocin I (11–16 mg/g DW). In contrast, geniposide (20–28 mg/g dry weight, DW) and gardenoside (19–24 mg/g DW) represented half percentage of the total content of phytochemicals identified in the hulls.

Compositional diversity of iridoids, phenolic compounds, and crocins in Gardenia jasminoides fruits of different varieties (2026).pdf

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The research belongs to the project “MEDIFOODS: Development of novel foods from Asian-European medicine herb”, funded by the Finland-China Food and Health Network, a global pilot program established by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture (Decision No. 26004241). A personal grant was funded to Q. Ni by the China Scholarship Council (CSC-202008330056). The analytical instruments used in the research were supported by the FOODNUTRI-Climate Smart Food and Nutrition Research Infrastructure (funded by the Academy of Finland’s FIRI 2020: Research infrastructures as collaborative platforms, Decision No. 337980; and the Academy of Finland’s FIRI 2021: Non-roadmap research infrastructures as part of the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility, Decision no. 345916).