Oleanolic and ursolic acid in the fruit of Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.

High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was applied to determine the content of oleanolic acid (OA) and ursolic acid (UA) in different tissues of ‘Ruantiaobaisha’ and ‘Dayeyangdun’ loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) fruits in this research. The results demonstrated that peel contained higher OA and UA contents, while flesh and kernel contained very lower amounts of OA and UA. On the basis of above results, the OA and UA contents in the peel of different developmental stages and different cultivars of loquat fruits were analyzed and compared. It is found that OA and UA contents in the peel varied with different developmental stages and cultivars. The OA and UA content in the peel of ripe fruit of different cultivars were in the range of 0.59-1.68 and 2.82-8.20 mg/g DW, respectively. These results can provide a theoretical basis for the comprehensive utilization of loquat fruit in the future.   Key words: Eriobotrya japonica, fruit, oleanolic acid, ursolic acid.