Cyanidin-3-O-galactoside in ripe pistachio (Pistachia vera L. variety Bronte) hulls: Identification and evaluation of its antioxidant and cytoprotective activities

Anthocyanidins, compounds with several health promoting properties, are able to influence a broad range of biological processes. In the present work we identified cyanidin-3-O-galactoside in ripe pistachio hulls, which represented the most abundant compound (>96%), and we performed a deep analysis of its antioxidant and cytoprotective activities against tert-butyl hydroperoxide induced toxicity on human lymphocytes. Cyanidin-3-O-galactoside showed strong antioxidant activity in ORAC, DPPH•, ABTS•+, FRAP and O2 •− assays, clearly superior to synthetic antioxidants BHT, BHA and Trolox, while no activity was detected with H2O2. Moreover, in the concentration range 0.1–10 M, cyanidin-3-O-galactoside was found able to counteract cytotoxic effects of tert-butyl hydroperoxide decreasing or completely avoiding cell death, LDH release, caspase 3 activation and DNA damages.