Cyanidin 3-Galactoside, a New Anthocyanin from Camellia japonica subsp. rusticana (Honda) Kitamura and Its Occurrence in the Garden Forms of Camellia of Japanese Origin

Abstract

Cyanidin 3-galactoside was detected in flowers of the wild form of C. japonica subsp. rusticana by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). This was the first case in which 3-galactoside of cyanidin was found to occur in the genus Camellia. The amounts of cyanidin 3-galactoside in the garden forms of C. japonica, C. japonica subsp. rusticana, C. sasanqua and C. vernalis were 12, 34, 1 and 7% of the total amount of anthocyanins, respectively, indicating that the occurrence of relatively large amounts of this pigment is specific to C. japonica subsp. rusticana. It is suggested that, along with other constituent anthocyaninspreviously reported, the use of cyanidin 3-galactoside as a chemical marker will make more positive classification of camellia cultivars possible.