Comparison of Phenolic Compounds and the Antioxidant Activities of Fifteen Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat cv. ‘Hangbaiju’ in China

This study investigated the phenolic compounds of 15 Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat cv. ‘Hangbaiju’, including 6 ‘Duoju’ and 9 ‘Taiju’, using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The antioxidant activities of these ‘Hangbaiju’ were estimated by DPPH, ABTS and FRAP assays. Results show that a total of 14 phenolic compounds were detected in these flowers, including 3 mono-caffeoylquinic acids, 3 di-caffeoylquinic acids, 1 phenolic acid and 7 flavonoids. ‘Duoju’ and ‘Taiju’ possess different concentrations of phenolic compounds, and ‘Taiju’ exhibits higher caffeoylquinic acids and stronger antioxidant activities than ‘Duoju’. Caffeoylquinic acids show a strong correlation with the antioxidant activities of the samples. Principal component analysis (PCA) reveals an obvious separation between ‘Duoju’ and ‘Taiju’, using phenolic compounds as variables. Apigenin-7-O-glucoside, 3,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid, luteolin and acacetin were found to be the key phenolic compounds to differentiate ‘Duoju’ from ‘Taiju’.