Carotenoids in the peel and the flesh of persimmon fruit were identified, and the contents of carotenoids in the fleshes of 46 different persimmon cultivars were analyzed. The results indicated that 31 specific carotenoids were detected in both cultivars of persimmons, among which nine specific carotenoids were characterized. β-Cryptoxanthin was the most abundant carotenoid among all individual components in both the peel and the flesh, accounting for about 20-30% of the total carotenoids in both cultivars. The contents of total carotenoids in the fleshes of different persimmon cultivars were between 194.61 µg/100g FW and 1,566.30 µg/100g FW. Zeaxanthin was also the most abundant in all persimmon fleshes besides β-Cryptoxanthin, and the total amount of these two components accounted for 37.84-85.11% of the total carotenoids. The RE values in the fleshes of different cultivars also differed greatly. Besides, the stage of maturation was also important factor which could influence the carotenoid content and RE value in the fleshes.

Oleanolic acid (OA) and ursolic acid (UA) are important bioactive components in many plants, including persimmon (Diospyros kaki L.). The present work was carried out to determine OA and UA contents in the flesh of persimmon fruit from 32 cultivars, including 23 astringent and 9 non-astringent ones, by applying high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV detection. Both OA and UA were present in all of the investigated cultivars, except for three, ‘Hiratanenashi’, ‘Ribenhongshi’ and ‘Matsumotowase’. The OA content ranged from traces to 88.57 μg/g FW, and that of UA were between traces and 27.64 μg/g FW.

Oleanolic acid (OA) and ursolic acid (UA) have been proven to possess many biological activities, and much attention is focused on the search for plants which are rich in OA and UA. In this report, the OA and UA accumulation characteristics were investigated in 47 cultivars of Chinese herbaceous peony (Paeonia lactiflora Pall.) and were followed in three cultivars over different developmental stages as measured by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). OA and UA levels in leaves and stems demonstrated an overall upward trend from May 1 to September 15 except for UA in the leaves of “Hong Feng”. The maximum values of OA and UA in leaves of “Yangfei Chu Yu”, “Fen Zhu Pan” and “Hong Feng” were 852.98, 575.60, 290.48 μg/g FW and 924.94, 827.36, 432.67 μg/g FW, respectively. The maximum values of OA and UA in stems of “Yangfei Chu Yu”, “Fen Zhu Pan” and “Hong Feng” were 359.28, 90.49, 43.90 μg/g FW and 326.86, 82.25, 56.63 μg/g FW, respectively. OA and UA contents in leaves of 47 different herbaceous peony cultivars ranged from 66.73–618.12 and 36.23–665.14 μg/g FW, respectively, with average values of 171.62 and 227.57 μg/g FW, respectively. The results suggested that the aboveground parts of herbaceous peony may be used as an alternative source of OA and UA for medicinal purposes in addition to its ornamental purposes.