Comparative Phytochemical Analysis of Aronia melanocarpa L. Fruit Juices on Bulgarian Market

Abstract

Aronia melanocarpa L. (black chokeberry), belonging to the Rosaceae family, contains high amounts of polyphenolics and therefore exhibits one of the highest antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities among berry fruits. Chokeberries are used in the food industry for juice, nectar, and wine production and as colorants. We aimed to compare the phytochemical composition of three chokeberry juices commercially available in the local market as sources of beneficial phytochemicals. Using GC–MS and LC–MS/MS, we performed the identification and quantitation of polar compounds and polyphenolics. The concentrations of 13 amino acids, including 6 essential amino acids, 10 organic acids, 20 sugar alcohols and derivatives, 14 saccharides, 12 fatty acids and esters, and 38 polyphenols, were estimated. One of the analyzed juices had the highest polyphenolic content (5273.87 ± 63.16 µg/mL), possibly due to 2.9 times higher anthocyanin concentration compared to anthocyanins in other tested juices. This study provides new data concerning phytochemical composition in terms of amino acids, organic acids, sugar acids, fatty acids and their esters, and polyphenols as phytocomponents of commercially available chokeberry juices. Results show that after all processing techniques and possibly different plant growth conditions, chokeberry juices are a valuable source of health-promoting phytochemicals such as phenolic acids, pro-anthocyanins, and anthocyanins, thus considering them as functional foods. We demonstrated a diversity of the active substances in bioactive foods marketed as “same”; therefore, the standardized therapeutic effect could be expected only by the utilization of food supplements with guaranteed constant content.

Health Benefits of Antioxidant Bioactive Compounds in the Fruits and Leaves of Lonicera caerulea L. and Aronia melanocarpa (Michx.) Elliot

“…A. melanocarpa [ 162 , 163 , 164 , 165 ] and L. caerulea [ 24 , 82 , 121 , 166 ] are among the medicinal plants for which the literature reports multiple beneficial effects. Therefore, many bioactive compounds are extracted from these plants and are encapsulated into controlled release systems [ 167 , 168 , 169 , 170 , 171 , 172 , 173 ].…”

Phytochemical analysis of Aronia melanocarpa and ×Sorbaronia fallax fruit

“…Later, when chokeberry was separated from Sorbus, horticulturists began to use the same names "black rowan" and "black chokeberry for the designation of Michurin's plants, believing them to be A. melanocarpa, since the common name chokeberry was used for replacing genus name Aronia. Among horticulturists, this practice exists to this day (Denev et al, 2018;Sidor & Gramza-Michałowska, 2019;Tasinov et al, 2022).…”

“…The importance of garden chokeberry culture is emphasized by its distribution in many countries of the world. If half a century ago it was grown on the territory of the Soviet Union, where it originated, now commercial plantations are also widespread in Northern Europe (Jeppsson, 1999(Jeppsson, , 2000Jeppsson & Johansson, 2000), Central Europe (Oszmiański & Wojdylo, 2005;Jurikova et al, 2017;Trenka et al, 2020), Southeast Europe (Ochmian et al, 2012;Tasinov et al, 2022), andEastern Europe (Mezhenskyj, 2019;Mezhenskyj & Mezhenska, 2023), Asia Minor (Poyraz Engin & Mert) and East Asia (Tanaka & Tanaka, 2001;Hwang et al, 2014;Yang et al, 2019). The new fruit crop has become interesting in North America, where the natural range of its wild parents is located (Brand et al, 2019(Brand et al, , 2022Green et al, 2023).…”

Fresh Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) Fruits as Valuable Additive in Extruded Snack Pellets: Selected Nutritional and Physiochemical Properties

“…Moreover, it has one of the greatest quantities of sorbitol. These fruits are also abundant in polyphenolics and thus have one of the highest levels of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity among all berry fruits [ 9 ]. Beyond the aforementioned, chokeberry bioactive components have anti-cancer, anti-bacterial and anti-diabetic activities, as well as hepatoprotective, cardioprotective and neuroprotective potential [ 10 ].…”