are the most important species in China, whereas Crataegus laevigata Poir. (syn: Crataegus oxyacantha L.), Crataegus monogyna Jacq., Crataegus pentagyna Waldst., Crataegus nigra Waldst., and Crataegus azarolus L. are the major species in Europe [Rayyan et al., 2005; Liu et al., 2011]. Crataegus species have long been used in traditional Chinese and European herbal medicine. In addition to being highly recommended in folk medicine, hawthorn berries are valuable food ingredient due to the content of nutrients and compounds with health benefi ts [Bernatoniene et al., 2008; Tadić et al., 2008]. Hawthorn berries are used to prepare jams, jelly, drinks, wine, and canned fruit. Fruits and leaves of hawthorn are rich in phenolic compounds, which are considered to be the key bioactive compounds in this plant, accounting for its antioxidant activity and other benefi cial biological effects [Bleske et al., 2008]. The main components of hawthorn are thought to be fl avones, fl avonols, fl avan-3-ols (especially (-)-epicatechin), and fl avan-3-ol oligomers (procyanidins) [Liu et al., 2011; Svedström et al., 2006; Yang & Liu, 2012]. Oligomeric procyanidins and their glycosides are the major phenolic compounds in fruits, whereas fl avonols, fl avonol glycosides, and C-glycosyl fl avones dominate in leaves [Liu et al., 2011]. On the basis of literature data, quercetin, kaempferol, and sexangularetin are the major fl avonols in hawthorn [Yang & Liu, 2012]. Rutin and hyperoside are the predominant fl avonol glycosides, while vitexin, vitexin-2''-O-rhamnoside,