Open Access

ARTICLE

Presence of Acetogenins in Starches and Pectins Extracted from Soursop (Annona muricata L.) Fruits

Miguel Ángel De los Santos-Santos¹, Rosendo Balois-Morales^1,2, Juan Esteban Bello-Lara², José Orlando Jiménez-Zurita², Graciela Guadalupe López-Guzmán², Efigenia Montalvo-González³, Guillermo Berumen-Varela⁴, Carlos Azhael Rodríguez-Guzmán², Andrés Eloy León-Fernández^2,*

1 Programa de Posgrado en Ciencias Biológico-Agropecuarias, Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit, Carretera Tepic-Compostela Km. 9, Xalisco, Nayarit, México
2 Unidad Académica de Agricultura, Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit, Carretera Tepic-Compostela Km. 9, Xalisco, Nayarit, México
3 Laboratorio Integral de Investigación en Alimentos, Instituto Tecnológico de Tepic, Avenida Insurgentes #2595, Colonia Lagos del Country, Tepic, Nayarit, México
4 Unidad de Tecnología de Alimentos, Secretaría de Investigación y Posgrado, Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit, Ciudad de la Cultura S/N, Tepic, Nayarit, México

* Corresponding Author: Andrés Eloy León-Fernández. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advances in the Physiological, Biochemical and Molecular Mechanisms Regulating Fruit Ripening in Tropical Fruits)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2026, 95(2), 9 https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2026.076197

Received 16 November 2025; Accepted 20 January 2026; Issue published 28 February 2026

Abstract

Acetogenins are lipidic polyketides with antioxidant, antimicrobial, cytotoxic, and antitumor properties, mainly found in the roots, stems, bark, leaves, and fruits (particularly the seeds) of Annonaceae species. Previous studies have identified acetogenins in the peel and pulp of soursop (Annona muricata L.) fruits. In this research, acetogenins present in starch and pectin extracted from these fruits were analyzed and identified, given their potential importance in the pharmaceutical and possibly in the food industries. The objective was to identify and quantify acetogenins in starch and pectin of soursop fruits. Extraction of both polysaccharides was performed using conventional and ultrasound-assisted methods, obtaining two types of pastes (white and brown). These were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Methanolic extracts from the pastes were analyzed by thin-layer chromatography and open-column fractionation. Acetogenins were identified and quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The compounds identified were pseudoannonacin and anonacin. In pectin, the concentration (μg g⁻¹ of dry basis P/A) of pseudoannonacin was 340.06 (conventional) and 452.80 (ultrasound-assisted), while for anonacin it was 302.29 (conventional) and 397.23 (ultrasound-assisted). In starch, the concentration (μg g⁻¹ of dry basis P/A) of pseudoannonacin was 20.72 (conventional) and 21.60 (ultrasound-assisted), whereas anonacin showed concentrations of 1.63 (conventional) and 3.12 (ultrasound-assisted). These results confirm the presence of anonacin and pseudoannonacin in both starch and pectin of soursop fruits, with pseudoannonacin being the most abundant acetogenin detected.

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