Compositional Features of the “Kweli” Red Raspberry and Its Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities

Abstract

Red raspberries (Rubus idaeus L.) are increasingly popular foods in contemporary diets due to their freshness, nutritional value and health claims. Among the existing cultivars, “Kweli” is one of the most productive and widely cultivated. In this study, the nutritional value and chemical composition of “Kweli” red raspberry were characterized by the official method of food analysis and chromatographic techniques, and its antioxidant and antimicrobial activities were tested against biological/biochemical oxidizable substrates and foodborne bacteria and fungi strains, respectively. Carbohydrates (including fructose and glucose, 14.3 and 12.6 g/100 g dw, respectively), proteins (6.8 g/100 g dw), and ashes (3.90 g/100 g dw) were major constituents. The fat content was quite low and constituted mainly by unsaturated fatty acids (58.3%), with a predominance of oleic acid. Fresh red raspberry also contained high levels of citric (2.7 g/100 g) and ascorbic (17 mg/100 g) acids. The anthocyanins (4.51 mg/g extract) cyanidin-O-hexoside and mostly cyanidin-O-sophoroside were identified in the red raspberry hydroethanolic extract, which was able to inhibit thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) formation (EC50 of 122 µg/mL), oxidative hemolysis (IC50 of 298 µg/mL), and β-carotene bleaching (EC50 of 18.7 µg/mL). In turn, the extract was more effective than the food additive E224 against Bacillus cereus. All these results highlighted the nutritional quality of “Kweli” red raspberry and showed some compositional differences in relation to other cultivars. Therefore, its inclusion in a daily diet can be helpful to obtain nutrients and antioxidants and bring health benefits.

Antiviral and Antibacterial Effect of Honey Enriched with Rubus spp. as a Functional Food with Enhanced Antioxidant Properties

“…Cyanidin-3-arabinoside (Rf = 0.18) was not found in tested extracts. Numerous anthocyanins have been identified in raspberry fruits, mainly cyanidin derivatives (sophoroside, glucoside, rutinoside as well as diglucosides) and pelargonidin [ 38 , 39 , 40 ]. Blackberries are also dominated by cyanidin glycosides [ 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ].…”

Anthocyanins from Rubus fruticosus L. and Morus nigra L. Applied as Food Colorants: A Natural Alternative

“…Despite the scarcity of studies reporting the presence of raffinose and trehalose in fruits, some authors have reported their presence in berries. For instance, Aksic et al [16] detected trehalose and raffinose in three blueberry cultivars ('Bluecrop', 'Duke', and 'Nui'), while Palonen et al [17] reported the presence of raffinose in 'Festival', 'Titan', and 'Willamette' raspberries, and Vara et al [18] of both raffinose and trehalose in 'Kwely' raspberries.…”

Effects of Dietary Red Raspberry Consumption on Pre-Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Parameters

“…Although the bioavailability of both anthocyanins and ellagitannins is low and depends on several factors, such as the food matrix, dose and time of intake, interactions with gut microbiota as well as other polyphenols during digestion and absorption, there is increasing evidence that their biological activity may provide significant health benefits [13,20,21]. In addition to the bioactive compounds of RR there are post-ingestion metabolites such as short chain fatty acids that are shown to confer potential health benefits [22][23][24][25].…”

“…There is evidence that the benefits of dietary berries can be feasibly attained through daily consumption of 40-250 g of fresh, frozen, or dried berries, or their extracts [12]. Numerous health benefits have been documented from consuming RR and its bioactive constituents including improved glucose, insulin, and lipid metabolism, as well as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and signaling properties which have the potential to reduce the risk for and modulate chronic metabolic diseases [12,23,24].…”