Food Research International 44 (2011) 1837–1842

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Food Research International

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Review

Extraction and pharmacological properties of bioactive compounds from longan

(Dimocarpus longan Lour.) fruit — A review
Bao Yang a, Yueming Jiang a,⁎, John Shi b, Feng Chen c, Muhammad Ashraf d
a
Key Laboratory of Plant Resource Conservation and Sustainable Utilization, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, People's Republic of China
b
Guelph Food Research Center, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 93 Stone Road West, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 5C9
c
Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
d
Department of Botany, Faculty of Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Mature longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour.) fruit has a succulent, edible and white aril, which has gained popularity
Received 1 September 2010 as an exotic fruit in temperate regions. It is prized on the international market resulting in an increased production
Accepted 10 October 2010 with significant contributions to local economic development. Longan fruit contains significant amounts of
bioactive compounds such as corilagin, ellagic acid and its conjugates, 4-O-methylgallic acid, flavone glycosides,
Keywords:
glycosides of quercetin and kaempferol, ethyl gallate 1-β-O-galloyl-D-glucopyranose, grevifolin and 4-O-α-L-
Longan
Dimocarpus longan Lour.
rhamnopyranosyl-ellagic acid. The fruit has been used in the traditional Chinese medicinal formulation, serving as
Fruit an agent in relief of neural pain and swelling. The application of ultrasonic-assisted extraction or high pressure-
Extraction assisted extraction greatly increases the yield from longan pericarp or seeds. In recent years, some
Bioactive compound pharmacological activities such as anti-tyrosinase, anti-glycated and anticancer activities, and memory-
Pharmacological activities enhancing effects of longan aril, pericarp or seed extract have been found, implicating a significant contribution
to human health. Regarding the increasing cultivation area and increasing quantity of longan fruit in the world,
further utilization of this fruit is expected in an effort to use more efficiently the inherent bioactive compounds.
The paper reviews the recent advances in the extraction and pharmacological activities of bioactive compounds
from longan fruit. Some novel pharmacological potential of longan fruit is also discussed in this paper.
© 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1838
2. Extraction of bioactive compounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1838
2.1. Conventional extraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1838
2.2. Ultrasonic-assisted extraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1838
2.3. High pressure-assisted extraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1838
3. Nutritional and phytochemical compositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1839
3.1. Nutrients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1839
3.2. Phytochemicals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1839
4. Pharmacological properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1839
4.1. Antioxidant activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1839
4.2. Anti-tyrosinase activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1840
4.3. Anti-glycated activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1840
4.4. Potential anticancer activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1840
5. Other beneficial effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1840
6. Prospects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1841
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1841
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1841

⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: + 86 20 37252525; fax: + 86 20 37252831.

E-mail address: ymjiang@scbg.ac.cn (Y. Jiang).

0963-9969/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2010.10.019
1838 B. Yang et al. / Food Research International 44 (2011) 1837–1842
1. Introduction
Longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour.) is a subtropical evergreen tree
belonging to the family Sapindaceae (Huang, 1995; Tindall, 1994).
Longan fruit has a thin, leathery and indehiscent pericarp surrounding
a succulent edible aril with a large dark brown seed. Longan fruit has
gained popularity as an exotic fruit in temperate regions, and is prized
on world markets with strong demand for its desirable flavour and
semi-translucent to white aril (Jiang, Zhang, Joyce, & Ketsa, 2002). The
fruit is grown commercially in many countries, including China and
Thailand, which account for most commercial longan production
(Huang, Huang, & Zeng, 2005). Longan production has increased over
recent decades because of great improvements in agronomic practices
and other aspects of crop management (Huang et al., 2005; Jiang et al.,
2002). Increasing production of longan fruit raises prospects for
further utilization for this crop.
Longan fruit is rich in carbohydrates, protein, fiber, fat, vitamin C,
amino acids, and minerals. The fruit has been used traditionally in
Chinese medicinal formulation, serving as a common agent in relief of
neural pain and swelling. In recent years, the extract from longan fruit
including aril, pericarp and seed, has exhibited excellent antioxidant
ability and good anti-tyrosinase and anticancer activities (Chung, Lin,
Chou, & Hsu, 2010; de Assis et al., 2009; Park et al., 2010; Prasad et al.,
2009; Rangkadilok et al., 2007; Soong & Barlow, 2004; Yang, Zhao, &
Jiang, 2009; Yang, Zhao, Shi, Yang, & Jiang, 2008c). Thus, longan fruit
can be used as a readily accessible source of natural antioxidants and/
or a possible supplement in the food or pharmaceutical industries. To
better utilize the longan fruit, the paper reviews the recent advances
in the extraction of bioactive compounds present in the fruit and their
corresponding biological activities. Some novel pharmacological
potential of longan fruit is also discussed in the paper. The paper
will give the interested readers more insights of longan fruit, and help
relevant farmers and industries to better utilize this fruit in the future.
2. Extraction of bioactive compounds
Extraction is the most important step in isolating different types of
bioactive compounds from fruits and vegetables. The ideal extraction
method should be quantitative, non-destructive and time-saving.
There are different extraction methods. Recently, use of green
technology like ultrasonic-assisted extraction or high pressure-
assisted extraction has been reported for efficient extraction of
bioactive compounds from longan fruit.
2.1. Conventional extraction
It is the traditional way of extracting bioactive compounds from
plant tissues, using soxhlet extractor, magnetic stirrer, boiling,
maceration, grinding and heat reflux (Yang et al., 2008d). The
extraction technique depends largely on the type of solvents, energy
input, and agitation to improve the chemical solubility and efficiency
of mass transfer. Usually, the conventional extraction requires long
extraction time with low extraction yield but high energy consump-
tion. The method is still popular and widely used because it has been
well established and is easy to perform and cheap to operate.
He et al. (2009) reported the phenol contents of 12 Chinese longan
cultivars. Polyphenols (52.9 mg/g dry matter) were obtained from the
pericarp of cultivar ‘Wulongling’ fruit by extraction with aqueous
acetone. Based on the conventional extraction, Yang et al. (2008d)
found a great variation in the contents of water-soluble polysacchar-
ides, water-soluble total saccharides, gallic acid and total phenols in
the pericarp of longan among the three cultivars and drying methods
tested. The longan pericarp tissues contained a large amount of
phenolic compounds and “Shixia” fruit had the highest content
(49.4 mg gallic acid equivalents/g dry matter) of total phenols. The
contents of total phenolics exhibited a decreasing order for the three
drying methods: lyophilization N microwave radiation N solar
radiation. Although gallic acid was not detected in either fresh or
lyophilized pericarp tissues, it was found that longan pericarp dried
by microwave radiation have a higher content than by solar radiation.
Furthermore, Zheng et al. (2009) identified eight polyphenols, i.e.,
ethyl gallate 1-β-O-galloyl-D-glucopyranose, methyl brevifolin car-
boxylate, grevifolinand 4-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-ellagic acid, gallic
acid, corilagin and ellagic acid present in longan seed. The conven-
tional extraction of polysaccharides from longan pericarp was also
investigated using hot water (Yang, Zhao, & Jiang, 2009). It is noted
that the conventional extraction method to use different solvents to
extract fruit compounds should be considered, due to a large number
of longan cultivars available.
2.2. Ultrasonic-assisted extraction
The ultrasonic-assisted extraction of oils from chickpea (Lou,
Wang, Zhang, & Wang, 2010), saponins from ginseng (Engelberth,
Clausen, & Carrier, 2010), polysaccharides (Yang, Jiang, Zhao, Shi, &
Wang, 2008) and phenolic compounds such as corilagin from longan
pericarp (Prasad et al., 2009; Yang, Zhao, & Jiang, 2008a) were
reported. Under the optimal conditions, 85% acidified ethanol with aid
of ultrasonication has been demonstrated to obtain a higher
extraction yield from longan pericarp, as compared with the
conventional extraction (Prasad, Yang, Yi, Zhao, & Jiang, 2009).
Likewise, Zhong and Wang (2010) optimized ultrasonic-assisted
extraction technology to obtain polysaccharides from dried longan
pulp using response surface methodology. These results demonstrate
that the ultrasonic-assisted extraction is more effective than the
conventional extraction in extracting bioactive compounds from
longan pericarp.
2.3. High pressure-assisted extraction
The high pressure-assisted extraction (HPE) method, which works
under a very high pressure ranging from 100 to 1000 MPa, has been
recognized as an environment-friendly technology by the Food and
Drug Administration, and is being extensively applied in pharmaceu-
tical, metallurgical and food industries. Various researchers have
successfully used the HPE technique for the extraction of bioactive
compounds from some fruits such as longan (Prasad, Yang, Yi, et al.,
2009; Prasad et al., 2010) and grapes (Corrales et al., 2008).
Optimization to obtain high corilagin yield from longan pericarp
was investigated under different high pressures (200–500 MPa),
times (2.5–30 min), and temperature (30–90 °C) (Prasad, Hao, Shi,
et al., 2009). The content of corilagin obtained by HPE (9.65 mg/g dry
matter) was significantly higher than that from the ultrasonic-
assisted extraction (7.91 mg/g dry matter) or conventional extraction
(2.35 mg/g dry matter). In addition, the yields of water-soluble
polysaccharides, alkali-soluble polysaccharides and cellulose from
longan pericarp were comparatively analysed before and after ultra-
high pressure treatment (Yang, Jiang, Wang, Zhao, & Sun, 2009). It
was found that a negative relationship was observed between
pressure and water-soluble polysaccharide yield. However, ultra-
high pressure treatment significantly (P b 0.05) increased the degrees
of hydrolysis of polysaccharides and lignins from longan pericarp.
Thus, the efficacy of high pressure to extract different types and yields
of bioactive compounds from longan fruit needs to be further
investigated due to their different stabilities and diffusion rates.
With the recent advances in extraction technologies, bioactive
compounds from longan fruit or its by-products can be obtained
efficiently. It should be noted that application of high pressure-
assisted extraction can increase significantly the extraction yield from
longan pericarp. Furthermore, fewer impurities of the extract are
noticed in the HPE extraction as compared to the conventional
extraction (Jiang, Y.M, unpublished data). Thus, the high pressure-
 B. Yang et al. / Food Research International 44 (2011) 1837–1842
assisted extraction technology will exhibit great potential for the
extraction of bioactive compounds from longan fruit.
3. Nutritional and phytochemical compositions
3.1. Nutrients
Table 1 presents the principal nutritional components of longan
aril. Furthermore, the different nutritional components for longan
fruit may occur across cultivars. The different nutritional components
for longan fruit may occur across cultivars. Among these 16 cultivars,
‘Zhuliang’ exhibits the highest single fruit weight (10.3 g) and edible
portion (65.9%) (Wen et al., 2010b).
The concentrations of total sugars in longan aril increase during
ripening, with absolute sugar content varying with stage of maturity
and cultivar. The major sugars are sucrose, fructose and glucose (Li,
Miao, & Jiang, 2009). Longan aril also contains malic and tartaric acids
(Li, Liu, & Wu, 2004). Other organic acids, including oxalic, citric and
succinic acids, have also been identified. Malic acid and citric acids are
the highest at the intermediate maturity stage, and gradually decrease
thereafter. Longan fruit also contains significant amount of amino
acids (Wang et al., 2009), especially γ-aminobutyric acid. The content
of γ-aminobutyric acid in longan aril ranged from 51 to 180 mg/100 g
fresh matter (Zheng et al., 2008).
About 28 major volatile compounds from fresh longan aril have
been identified to date. The major volatiles include β-ocimene, 3,4-
dimethyl-2,4,6-octatriene, ethyl acetate, allo-ocimene and 1-ethyl-6-
ethylidene-cyclohexene (Zhang, Zeng, & Li, 2008; Zhang, Gao, Zhang,
Shi, & Xu, 2009). Different extraction methods influence the volatile
constituents (Chang, Yu, Chang, & Liu, 2008). Thus, the different
volatile profile characteristics for longan fruit may occur across
cultivars, environments and cultural practices.
3.2. Phytochemicals
Significant amounts of phenolics, fatty acids and proteins exist in
longan fruit. Phenolic compounds including gallic acid, corilagin,
ellagic acid and their conjugates, (−)-epicatechin, 4-O-methylgallic
acid, flavone glycosides, glycosides of quercetin and kaempferol from
longan fruit pericarp (Jaitrong, Rattanapanone, & Manthey, 2006;
Rangkadilok, Worasuttayangkurn, Bennett, & Satayavivad, 2005; Shi
et al., 2008; Sun, Shi, Jiang, Xue, & Wei, 2007), and ethyl gallate 1-β-O-
galloyl-D-glucopyranose, methyl brevifolin carboxylate, grevifolinand
4-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-ellagic acid, gallic acid, corilagin and
ellagic acid from longan seed (Zheng et al., 2009) have been identified.
Longan aril contains lysophosphatidyl choline, phosphatidyl choline,
phosphatidyl inositol, phosphatidyl serine, phosphatidyl ethanol-
amine, phosphatidate and phosphatidic acid glycerol (Sheng & Wang,
2010). Such phospholipids can be metabolized by a variety of
Table 1
Nutritional composition per 100 g of fresh longan fruit aril.
Li et al. (2004) and Wall (2006).
Moisture (%)
Total carbohydrate
Carotene (μg/100 g)
Vitamin K (mg/100 g) 196.5
Reducing sugar (%)
Retinol (μg/100 g)
Protein (g/100 g)
Riboflavin (mg/100 g)
Fiber (g/100 g)
Ascorbic acid (mg/100 g)
Fat (%)
Nicotinic acid (mg/100 g)
Ash (g/100 g)
Thiamine (mg/100 g)
1839
membrane lipid-related enzymes and may purportedly enhance
immune function in human consumers. In addition, longan pericarp
contains significant amounts of polysaccharides (Jiang et al., 2009).
The polysaccharides are mainly composed of L-arabinofuranose
(32.8%), D-glucopyranose (17.6%), D-galactopyranose (33.7%) and
D-galacturonic acid (15.9%) (Yang et al., 2009).
4. Pharmacological properties
Phenolic compounds present in fruits and vegetables have
attracted great attention due to their beneficial effects to human
health (Jacob, Hakimuddin, Paliyath, & Fisher, 2008; Lampila, Van
Lieshout, Gremmen, & Lahteenmaki, 2009). As longan fruit contains
significant amounts of polyphenolic compounds, the longan aril,
pericarp or seed extract exhibits great antioxidant, anti-tyrosinase,
anti-glycated and anticancer activities (Prasad, Hao, Shi, et al., 2009;
Rangkadilok et al., 2007; Soong & Barlow, 2004; Yang et al., 2008c).
Furthermore, a combination of longan extract with some commercial
drugs can improve treatment efficacy and facilitate the recovery of the
patients. In addition, longan pericarp and seed as by-products account
for 16–40% of the whole fruit by weight, and, thus, they can
potentially be utilized as a readily accessible source of natural
antioxidants and a possible pharmaceutical supplement.
4.1. Antioxidant activity
There is some direct evidence for the antioxidant potential with
phenolic compounds in longan fruit (de Assis et al., 2009; Wen, Li,
Mao, & Zhang, 2010a). Guo et al. (2003) compared the antioxidant
activities of peel, pulp and seed fractions of longan fruit using the
FRAP assay, while Prasad, Yang, Shi, et al. (2010) found that
polyphenol-rich longan extract can strongly inhibit linoleic acid
oxidation and exhibit a dose-dependent free-radical scavenging
activity against DPPH radicals, superoxide anion and hydroxyl radicals
(Figs. 1–5). The different total antioxidant capacities were reported in
longan arils of various cultivars (Table 2). Among these 16 cultivars,
‘Kusan’ exhibits the lowest FRAP value of 4.19 mmol/L (Yamaguchi,
Ariga, Yoshimura, & Nakazawa, 2000). Furthermore, longan poly-
saccharides showed a good antioxidant activity in vitro (Jiang et al.,
2009; Yang, Jiang, Zhao, et al., 2009). However, methylation of
polysaccharides from longan pericarp reduced radical scavenging
activity (Yang, Zhao, Prasad, Jiang, & Jiang, 2010). In addition,
phenolics from longan pericarp have also found to have excellent
reducing power (Duan et al., 2007).
100
DPPH Radical Scavenging activity
a a a
80 a a b
60 b c
a
(%)
81.4
40
12.38–22.55
20
b
20
3.85–10.16 c
3 d
1.2 0
0.14 10 50 100
0.4 Concentration (µg/mL)
43.12–163.7
HPE UL C BHT
0.1
1.3
Fig. 1. Comparison of DPPH radical scavenging activity from longan fruit pericarp after
0.7
application of HPE, UE and CE. For each treatment, the means in a row followed by
0.01
different letters were significantly different at the 5% level.
1840 B. Yang et al. / Food Research International 44 (2011) 1837–1842

3.5 a ab 1.2
a
3
ab b b a
c ab 1 a

Absorbance ( 695 nm)

Absorbance (700 nm)

2.5 b c
0.8 d
b
2 a
b 0.6 c c
1.5
c c
0.4 a
1
b
0.5 0.2 c d

0 0
10 50 100 10 50 100
Concentration (µg/mL) Concentration (µg/mL)
HPE UL C BHT HPE UL C BHT

Fig. 2. Comparison of reducing power from longan fruit pericarp after application of Fig. 4. Comparison of total antioxidant activity from longan fruit pericarp after
HPE, UE and CE. For each treatment, the means in a row followed by different letters application of HPE, UE and CE. For each treatment, the means in a row followed by
were significantly different at the 5% level. different letters were significantly different at the 5% level.

4.2. Anti-tyrosinase activity
Tyrosinase (EC 1.14.18.1) is a multifunctional enzyme that
catalyzes both the hydroxylation of monophenols such as tyrosine
to o-diphenols and the oxidation of o-diphenols to o-quinones.
Meanwhile, the enzyme is widely distributed in organisms and plays
an important role in melanin production. Tyrosinase inhibitors may be
clinically useful for the treatment of skin cancer and some dermato-
logical disorders associated with melanin hyperpigmentation and are
important in cosmetics for whitening and depigmentation after
sunburn (Shaheen et al., 2005). Rangkadilok et al. (2007) determined
standardized longan fruit extract. Furthermore, Yang et al. (2008a)
found that polysaccharides from longan fruit pericarp can strongly
inhibit the tyrosinase activity and act as a noncompetitive inhibitor of
the enzyme. The inhibition of tyrosinase activity by the major
constitutes of longan polysaccharides needs to be investigated further.
4.3. Anti-glycated activity
Glycation has been confirmed to have a significant role in diabetic
complications and normal aging (Yamaguchi et al., 2000). Poly-
saccharides from longan pericarp showed a good and stable anti-
glycated activity (Yang, Zhao, & Jiang, 2009). Ultrasonic-assisted
extraction technique can increase the anti-glycated activity of
polysaccharides obtained from longan pericarp. The role of longan
polysaccharides in preventing diabetics and normal aging is worth
further evaluation.
4.4. Potential anticancer activity
Polyphenol-rich longan seed extract is a free-radical scavenger
that possesses known pharmacological properties and is used by
humans for therapeutic purposes. Prasad, Hao, Shi, et al. (2009c)
reported the anticancer activity of pericarp extract of longan fruit
against the HepG2, A549, and SGC7901 cancer cell lines (Table 3). The
extract from longan pericarp obtained by the high pressure-assisted
extraction showed higher anticancer activity than the conventional
extraction. Furthermore, polyphenol-rich longan seed extract also
inhibited the proliferation of Colo 320DM, SW480 and HT-29 by
blocking cell cycle progression during the DNA synthesis phase and
inducing apoptotic death, reduced the expression of cyclin A and
cyclin D1, activated caspase 3 and increased the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio
(Chung et al., 2010). It was suggested that a polyphenol-rich longan
extract can be employed as a potential novel treatment agent for
cancer.
5. Other beneficial effects
Longan fruit has been used for the traditional Chinese medicine
formulation to decrease the neural pain and swelling. Besides the

a a
100
70
a a b
b b
Lipid peroxidation inhibitory

b
Superoxide anion scavengng

60 80
a b
a
50 a b
activity (%)

60
activity (%)

40 c
a a
30 ab b c 40
b
20 bc c c
20
c
10

0 0
10 50 100 10 50 100
Concentration (µg/mL) Concentration (µg/mL)
HPE UL C BHT HPE UL C BHT

Fig. 3. Comparison of superoxide anion radical scavenging activity from longan fruit Fig. 5. Comparison of lipid peroxidation inhibitory activity from longan fruit pericarp
pericarp after application of HPE, UE and CE. For each treatment, the means in a row after application of HPE, UE and CE. For each treatment, the means in a row followed by
followed by different letters were significantly different at the 5% level. different letters were significantly different at the 5% level.
 B. Yang et al. / Food Research International 44 (2011) 1837–1842 1841

Table 2 Acknowledgements
Total antioxidant capacities and total phenolic contents of arils of different longan
cultivars.
Wen, Xu, et al. (2010b).
This work was supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 30928017, U0631004 and
Cultivar Antioxidant activity Total phenolics 31071638), the CAS/SAFEA international partnership program for
(FRAP value, mmol/L) (gallic acid equivalents, mg/L juice)
creative research teams and the Natural Science Foundation of
Shixia 15.82 629.12 Guangdong Province (Grant No. 06200670).
Qingkebaoyuan 3.73 396.65
Kusan No. 2 4.19 179.25
Zhuliang 11.18 401.64
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