Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the isolation, purification, structure and antitumor activity of anthocyanins from kyoho grape skins. Pigment-rich crude extract from kyoho grape skins was separated and purified sequentially by AB-8 macroporous resin, polyamide resin and Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography. The structure of the purified anthocyanins was identified by using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography combined with triple quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF MSE), and their effects on the proliferation, invasion and apoptosis of HepG2 hepatocellular cells and A549 lung cancer cells were investigated by MTT assay, Transwell invasion assay and Annexin V-FITC/PI double labeling staining, respectively. The ultraviolet (UV)-visible (Vis) spectrum showed that the AB-8 purified sample had absorption peaks at 280, 520 and 330 nm, indicating that the major components of the sample were anthocyanins which might contain acylation groups. In the sample, some anthocyanins were adsorbed by polyamide resin, while Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography could allow good separation and purification of anthocyanins from kyoho grape skins. Three anthocyanin components (I, III and IV) were obtained in high yields ((0.108 ± 0.011)%, (0.053 ± 0.007)% and (0.038 ± 0.005)%) and purities (98.52%, 96.84% and 91.36%, respectively) and they were identified as cyanidin-3-rutinoside, malvidin-3,5-diglucoside-coumarin and malvidin-3-galactoside. The anthocyanin components could significantly inhibit the proliferation and invasion of HepG2 hepatoma cells and A549 lung cancer cells, and significantly increase the apoptosis of cancer cells. Their anti-tumor effects were ranked as follows: III > I > IV.

Key words: grape skin anthocyanins, isolation, purification, structure, anti-tumor effect