Fifteen anthocyanin structures are reported from an extract of black currant berries (Ribes nigrum L.). These are the 3-O-glucosides and the 3-O-rutinosides of pelargonidin, cyanidin, peonidin, delphinidin, petunidin, and malvidin, cyanidin 3-O-arabinoside, and the 3-O-(6‘ ‘-p-coumaroylglucoside)s of cyanidin and delphinidin. The anthocyanins were characterized by means of size exclusion chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography, UV−visible spectroscopy, and electrospray mass spectrometry. The four main pigments (the 3-O-glucosides and the 3-O-rutinosides of delphinidin and cyanidin) made up >97% of the total anthocyanin content. The minor pigments were enriched from the extract by successive partition against ethyl acetate and by gel fractionation. These chromatographic steps were successfully used to isolate the acylated anthocyanins from the ethyl acetate layer and to separate cyanidin 3-O-arabinoside from the mixture of anthocyanins. The amounts of anthocyanin rutinosides were found to be higher than the amount of the corresponding glucosides for all detected pigments having the same aglycon moiety.

Keywords: Black currants; Ribes nigrum L.; size exclusion chromatography; high-performance liquid chromatography; mass spectrometry; anthocyanins; delphinidin and cyanidin 3-O-(6‘ ‘-p-coumaroylglucoside)s