Phenolic compounds in tomatoes. Natural variations and effect of gamma-irradiation

A method for determination of p-hydroxybenzaldehyde, p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, rutin and naringenin in tomatoes based on HPLC with coulometric electrode array detection was developed. After lyophilisation and extraction the compounds were separated isocratically (acetonitrile/buffer: 14:86, v:v, or acetonitrile/buffer: 27:73, v:v, flow rate: 0.8 ml/min) on reversed phase columns (LiChrospher 60 RP select B or Spherisorb ODS2) and detected at 16 respectively 10 working electrodes set at potentials between +50 and +750 mV against palladium reference electrodes. The natural content of these components showed a strong variation between different varieties, harvests and degrees of maturity. Gamma-irradiation reduced the concentration of the phenolic compounds markedly in all tomato samples investigated, however, this change was smaller than the naturally occurring differences. The irradiation products vanillin and eriodictyol, identified in standard solutions, could not be found in irradiated tomatoes.