Characterization of a highly polymeric proanthocyanidin fraction from persimmon pulp with strong Chinese cobra PLA2 inhibition effects.

Persimmon proanthocyanidin was fractionated on Toyopearl TSK-HW-50-F to yield a fraction with strong inhibition on the catalytic activity and edema-inducing activity and lethality of Chinese cobra PLA(2). Thiolysis suggested that the terminal units included C, EGCG and myricetin, and epicatechin, epigallocatechin, (epi)gallocatechin-3-O-gallate, and (epi)catechin-3-O-gallate occurred as extender units. The mean degree of polymerization was 23.7. MALDI TOF/MS, thioly-HPLC, FTIR and circular dichroism (CD) analyses showed that the fraction had high prodelphinidin content (55%) and a very high degree of 3-O-galloylation (92%). A type linkage is dominant in it and it had 4β linkage of the flavanyl substituent and 4R absolute configuration.