Flavonoid and Anthocyanin Pigments Characterization of Pistachio Nut (Pistacia vera) as a Function of Cultivar

In this work, the concentrations of flavonoid and anthocyanin pigments determined from different pistachio (Pistacia vera) cultivars collected from Damghan and Rafsanjan, were investigated. The flavonoid compound was evaluated as aluminum chloride complex and stated as mg of rutin equivalents/100g of the sample weight. To estimate anthocyanin content, colorimetric assays were used. The highest concentrations of flavonoid compounds (25mgRu100g-1fw) were found in the Abbas Ali cultivar from Damghan, followed by Kalehghoochi and Fakhri. The lowest level of anthocyanin was obtained in Khanjari from Damghan (7µmolg-1fu). The amount of anthocyanin and flavonoid pigments in different tissues of pistachio fruits showed that there was no significant difference in pistachio hull and kernel. After harvest, different cultivars indicated various values for phytochemical properties and flavonoid compound of pistachio hull and kernel ranged from 12.31 to 30.3 mgRu100g-1fw and 19.22 to 27.92 mgRu100g-1fw, anthocyanin pigment of pistachio hull and kernel from 6.81 to 11.1 µmol g-1fu and 4 to 18 µmolg-1fu, respectively. The pistachio kernel contained high amounts of flavonoid content, especially in the Fakhri cultivar, and the pistachio hull contained low levels of anthocyanin value, especially in the Akbari cultivar. Among the investigated pistachio kernel cultivars, Abbas Ali indicated higher values of anthocyanin pigment than Kalehghoochi, Akbari, Khanjari, and Fakhri. Our findings could be beneficial for introducing interesting properties to the pistachio nut such as cultivar-rich resources from anthocyanin and flavonoid contents and can be used when selecting a special cultivar for a particular application and pharmaceutical industry.