Andean Blueberry of the Genus Disterigma: A High-Resolution Mass Spectrometric Approach for the Comprehensive Characterization of Phenolic Compounds

Abstract

Wild neotropical blueberries, endemic of Central and South American areas, are promising yet still undisclosed sources of bioactive compounds. Most research studies have addressed wild and cultivated blueberries from Europe and North America, despite the extremely wide variety of wild neotropical species. In the present paper, for the first time, the phenolic composition of Disterigma alaternoides was investigated through ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass-spectrometric analysis followed by accurate data analysis and compound validation with a dedicated structure-based workflow. D. alaternoides, which belongs to a closely related genus to that of the common blueberry, grows exclusively in the Andean regions over 2000 above sea level. Thanks to the dedicated analytical platform, 249 phenolic compounds were tentatively identified, including several anthocyanins, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and proanthocyanidins. Thenature and heterogeneity of identified phenolic compounds demonstrate once more the need for a more profound knowledge of such still uncharted matrices.

Detailed investigation of the composition and transformations of phenolic compounds in fresh and fermented Vaccinium floribundum berry extracts by high‐resolution mass spectrometry and bioinformatics

“…Their simultaneous absence could indicate a lower degree of methylation in the flavonoid constituents of Andean blueberries compared to European and North American blueberries. These trends are consistent with the results obtained for Disterigma alaternoides , another blueberry from the Neotropical realm 29 …”

“…These trends are consistent with the results obtained for Disterigma alaternoides, another blueberry from the Neotropical realm. 29 The determination of the position of the glycoconjugation on the flavonol structure is a great analytical challenge when analytical standards are not available. The sugar-aglycone bond can undergo both heterolytic and homolytic cleavage in negative ion mode, producing an aglycone ion [Y 0 ] À and a radical aglycone ion [Y 0 -H] À , respectively.…”

Dracocephalum palmatum S. and Dracocephalum ruyschiana L. Originating from Yakutia: A High-Resolution Mass Spectrometric Approach for the Comprehensive Characterization of Phenolic Compounds

“…Metabolomic screening of polyphenols by D. palmatum and D. ruyschiana included flavones, flavonols, flavan-3-ols, flavanones, anthocyanins, condensed tannins, lignans, stilbenes, and phenolic acids. The flavones apigenin (compound 2) and diosmetin (compound 7) have already been characterized as a component of Andean blueberry [10], Lonicera japonicum [11], Mexican lupine species [12], Cirsium japonicum [13], Mentha [14], and Dracocephalum moldavica [15]. The flavone apigenin was found in extracts of D. palmatum and D. ruyschiana.…”

“…The fragment ion with m/z 286 yields a daughter ion at m/z 258. It was identified in the bibliography in extracts of Andean blueberry [10], Lonicera japonicum [11], Mexican lupine species [12], Cirsium japonicum [13], Mentha [14], and Dracocephalum moldavica [15].…”

“…The data obtained will help to intensify future research on the development and production of various medical products containing targeted extracts of D. palmatum S. and D. ruyschiana L. A wide variety of biologically active polyphenolic compounds open up rich opportunities for the creation of new drugs, as well as biologically active additives based on extracts from the genus Dracocephalum. Andean blueberry [10],…”