Phenolic profile and pigment stability of Hylocereus species grown in North-East India

The current study was performed to generate a complete polyphenol and pigment profile along with the stability of color pigment extracted from the pulp and peel of two Hylocereus species H. costaricencis (HC) and H. udantus (HU) of dragon fruit. Polyphenol profiles of the pulp of both fruits at four development stages (from seven days after fruit set to fruit maturity) and the peel of mature fruits of both the species were generated using ultra high-pressure liquid chromatography technique (UHPLC). UHPLC chromatograms confirmed the presence of around 15 phenolic compounds among which the ellagic acid was found to be prominent in the pulp of both the species whereas syringic acid (in HU) and ferulic acid (in HC) dominate in the peel. Apart from the polyphenols, the peels of mature fruits of both species were found to contain a comparatively low amount of color pigment betacyanin than the pulp of red-colored matured HC fruit. Further, pigment stability analysis under various physiochemical conditions revealed the stability of color pigment in acidic pH, sugar solutions, antioxidant solutions and low temperatures. •Fruits contain more than 15 polyphenol compounds.•Pulp contains more color pigment than peel.•Color pigment was found to be heat, pH, and salt labile.