Procyanidin content and variation in some commonly consumed foods

Procyanidins are a subclass of flavonoids found in commonly consumed foods that have attracted increasing attention due to their potential health bene fits. However, little is known regarding their dietary intake levels becaus e detailed quantitative information on the procyanidin profiles present in many food products is lacking. Therefore, the procyanidin content of red wi ne, chocolate, cranberry juice and four varieties of apples has been determ ined. On average, chocolate and apples contained the largest procyanidin co ntent per serving (164.7 and 147.1 mg, respectively) compared with red wine and cranberry juice (22.0 and 31.9 mg, respectively). However, the procyan idin content varied greatly between apple samples (12.3-252.4 mg/serving) w ith the highest amounts on average observed for the Red Delicious (207.7 mg /serving) and Granny Smith (183.3 mg/serving) varieties and the lowest amou nts in the Golden Delicious (92.5 mg/serving) and McIntosh (105.0 mg/servin g) varieties. The compositional data reported herein are important for the initial understanding of which foods contribute most to the dietary intake of procyanidins and may be used to compile a database necessary to infer ep idemiological relationships to health and disease.