This study was undertaken to determine the amount of ellagic acid, a naturally occurring inhibitor of carcinogenesis, in various fruits and nuts. Ellagic acid was extracted from freezedried berries, pears, peaches, plums, grapes, apples, kiwi, and several nuts using either acetone/ water or methanol. The extracts were treated with trifluoroacetic acid to hydrolyze the ellagic acid glucosides, and analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Both acetone/water and continuous soxhlet extraction with methanol were equally effective in extracting ellagic acid from strawberries. In raspberries, the amount of ellagic acid liberated by the two extraction methods was not significantly different after hydrolysis with trifluoroacetic acid. The extracts were stable over 90 days at -20, 4, and 25ยฐC. Analysis showed that every food sample tested contained ellagic acid, but only the amounts present in strawberries (630 pg), raspberries (1500 pg), blackberries ( 1500 pg), walnuts (590 rg), pecans (330 pg), and cranberries (120 fig ellagic acid/g dry wt) were within the calibration range of the assay. In strawberries, 95.7% of the ellagic acid was found in the pulp while 4.3% was contained in the seeds. The seeds of raspberries contained 87.8% of the ellagic acid, and 12.2% was present in the pulp. The juice of both fruits contained negligible amounts of ellagic acid. 0 1989 Academic PES, inc.