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Phytochemical composition and biological activities of differently pigmented cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) and cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis) varieties Abstract BACKGROUND: Brassica plants contain a wide spectrum of bioactive components that are responsible for their health-promoting potential such as vitamins, polyphenols and glucosinolates. This study attempted to relate the composition of bioactive phytochemicals and chosen biological activities (antioxidant, cytotoxic, anti-genotoxic, and influence on enzymatic activities) for extracts from differently pigmented cabbage (white and red) and cauliflower (white and purple) varieties. The assumption was that tested varieties of the same plant would exhibit similar chemical composition differing mostly in anthocyanin content and that the latter will be reflected in biological activity. trophotometric methods (ABTS, FC, DPPH, FRAP), and Cellular Antioxidant Activity (CAA) test. The results of determinations of other biological activities showed that opposite to purified bioactive phytochemicals, in the case of actual plant foods, there was no simple relationship between anthocyanin content and chemopreventive potential. CONCLUSION: Obtained results suggest that there must be some kind of interaction between different phytochemicals, which decides on the final health promoting activity of edible plants as suggested by for example the food synergy concept. RESULTS: Profiles of antioxidants obtained using post-column derivatization with ABTS radical confirmed, that the content and composition of anthocyanins is strongly correlated with the antioxidant capacity of tested plant extracts measured by spec-

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The aim of this research was to correlate the composition of phenolic compounds and bioactivities (antioxidant, cytotoxic, antigenotoxic, and influence on selected enzymatic activities) exhibited by extracts from differently pigmented raspberry (yellow and red), grape (white and red), mulberry (white and black), and currant (white, red, and black) varieties. It was presumed that phytocomplexes of the same species will be similar while differing significantly only by the content of anthocyanins in colored varieties, which will impact biological properties. Additionally, to compare food matrix embedded and isolated anthocyanins, the influence of purified solution, in concentrations matching the total concentration of anthocyanins in appropriate colored plant samples, on investigated biological activities was studied. The phenolic compound composition and antioxidant profiles showed that anthocyanin content was correlated only with antioxidant capacity of tested plant extracts. The other determined biological activities failed to reveal any simple relationship between chemopreventive potential and anthocyanin composition in fruits studied nor any similarity to biological properties of isolated cyanidin-3-O-glucoside. These observations indirectly support the food synergy concept, that points to interactions between different phytochemicals as a factor deciding about the final bioactivity of edible plants.