Developmental Profile of Anthocyanin, Flavonol, and Proanthocyanidin Type, Content, and Localization in Saskatoon Fruits (Amelanchier alnifolia Nutt.)

Abstract

Saskatoons (Amelanchier alnifolia Nutt.) are small fruits that contain substantial quantities of flavonoids. To further characterize and understand the role of these flavonoids during fruit development, anthocyanins, flavonols, and proanthocyanidins were identified, quantified, and localized over development in cultivars that produce blue-purple or white fruit at maturity. Anthocyanin content was low in young fruit and then dramatically increased as the fruit transitioned into ripening only in the pigmented-fruit (blue-purple) cultivars. Proanthocyanidins with both A-type and B-type linkages were detected in fruit, with (-)-epicatechin as the most abundant proanthocyanidin subunit. Flavonol and proanthocyanidin content was high in, and localized throughout, the tissues of young fruit and in the developing seed coats, with levels decreasing as the fruit expanded. Our data show that flavonoid type, content, and tissue localization vary throughout development in saskatoon fruit. These data can be used to target specific fruit developmental stages and flavonoid classes for optimization of health-beneficial flavonoid content.

Inhibitory Potential against Digestive Enzymes Linked to Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes and Content of Bioactive Compounds in 20 Cultivars of the Peach Fruit Grown in Poland

“…It was observed that the early-maturing cultivars, such as: ‘Kijowska Wczesna’, ‘Harbringer’ and ‘Spring Time’, had higher contents of flavonols than the late-maturing ones (‘Madison’, ‘Flamin Fury’, ‘Harrow Beauty’). Other authors showed no relationship between the content of flavonols and cultivar type (late- or early-maturing), but they observed that the flavonols content decreases as the fruit expanded and matured and also that during storage, especially with access to light, the content of flavonols decreased drastically [ 16 , 17 ].…”

Phytochemical Composition and Antioxidant Capacity of Seven Saskatoon Berry (Amelanchier alnifolia Nutt.) Genotypes Grown in Poland

“…The identification and concentration results are presented in Table 2 and Figure 1 . The structures of these compounds were identified by comparison of their spectral and MS and/or MS/MS data to those reported in previous studies [ 9 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ].…”

“…“Smoky” was 29% higher than in this cultivar grown in Canada [ 26 ]. According to Jin et al [ 21 ], the contents of anthocyanins in cvs. “Pembina” and “Honeywood” were 50% and 31% lower than in both Saskatoon berry cultivars grown in Poland.…”

“…“Smoky”, “Thiessen”, and “Honeywood”, respectively). In research by Jin et al [ 21 ], the content of phenolic acids in the fruits of cvs. “Pembina” and “Honeywood” was 67% and 21% lower than in both cultivars analyzed in our studies.…”

Phytochemical analysis of salal berry ( Gaultheria shallon Pursh.), a traditionally-consumed fruit from western North America with exceptionally high proanthocyanidin content

“…There are few phytochemical studies of berries across a developmental profile; however, our earlier work on blueberry, as well as studies in Saskatoon berry (Amelanchier alnifolia Nutt.) showed that PA synthesis followed the same pattern: high initial PA levels are diluted out by berry expansion, while de novo synthesis continues throughout maturation (Zifkin et al, 2012;Jin et al, 2015).…”