Physicochemical and Bioactive Characteristics of Wild Grown Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) Genotypes from Northeastern Turkey

Abstract

In the present study, fruit weight, fruit firmness, external fruit color, soluble solid content, pH, titratable acidity, vitamin C, total phenolics, total anthocyanins and antioxidant capacity of eight wild bilberry grown in Coruh valley in northeastern Turkey were determined. The blueberry cv. 'Bluecrop' was also studied to make comparison with bilberry genotypes. Antioxidant activity of bilberry and blueberry fruits were comparatively assessed by FRAP (Ferric reducing antioxidant power) assay. Significantly higher contents of phenolics and anthocyanins were found in bilberry fruits comparted with blueberry fruits. However, blueberry cv. 'Bluecrop' exhibited higher fruit weight and vitamin C content than bilberry fruits. Total phenolic and total anthocyanin content was 327 mg gallic acid equivalent and 142 mg of cyanidin-3-glucoside equivalent in 100 g fresh fruit in cv. 'Bluecrop', while it was between 492-563 mg gallic acid equaivalent and 307-342 mg of cyanidin-3-glucoside equivalent in 100 g fresh fruits of bilberry accessions. Moreover, wild accessions had approximately 2-3 folds higher antioxidant capacity than cv. 'Bluecrop'. The obtained results suggest the possibility of improving the bioactive and antioxidant properties of bilberry cultivars by using wild ones in cross breedings. It was also concluded that genotypes significantly affect the bioactive content of fruits and consequently the possibility of using wild bilberry fruits as a potential source of natural antioxidants in food industry is worth to be considered.

Study of the physicochemical properties of highbush blueberry and wild bilberry fruit in central Bosnia

“…Comparable results for 'Bluecrop' were reported by Skupień (2006) in Poland (0.80%), by Kim et al (2013) in Korea (0.78%), by Leposavić (2014) in Serbia (0.78%), and by Milivojević et al (2016) in Serbia (0.57%-0.75%). Arsov et al (2010) in Macedonia (1.17%) and Celik et al (2018) in Turkey (1.3%) showed a significantly higher content of titratable acidity for this cultivar. According to Kim et al (2013), 'Earliblue' had a considerably higher content of titratable acidity (2.2%) than it had our research.…”

“…The same letters (e.g., a, a) -differences are not statistically significant, different letters (e.g., d, e) -the differences are statistically significant al. (2016) in Serbia, by Skupień (2006) in Poland (13.3%), by Gündüz et al (2015) in Michigan (USA) (12.9%), by Çolak et al (2017) in Turkey (13.3%), and by Celik et al (2018) in the Çoruh valley in northeastern Turkey (13.3%). The soluble solids content for 'Bluecrop' in our research was slightly higher than that reported by Leposavić (2014) in Serbia (11.1%) and by Arsov et al (2010) in Macedonia (from 10.6% to 11.0%) and considerably higher than that recorded by Kim et al (2013) in Korea (9.8 °Brix).…”

“…Similar results for 'Bluecrop' were obtained by Dragović-Uzelac et al (2010) in northern Croatia (292-368 mg GAE/100 g FW) and by Skupień (2006) in Poland (307 mg GAE/100 g FW). Several authors obtained slightly higher contents of total phenols for 'Bluecrop'-for example, 327 mg GAE/100 g FW in the blueberry in Turkey (Celik et al, 2018), 417 mg GAE/100 g FW in the blueberry in central Figure 5. The average pH value ± SD of blueberry cultivars and wild bilberry (Remark: different letters at average values indicate that the cultivars differ significantly in the investigated property according to the Tukey-Kramer test with P ≤ 0.05).…”

α‐Amylase and tyrosinase inhibitory activities, phenolic contents, and antioxidant capacities of wild and cultivated blueberries

“…Blueberries are well known to contain many bioactive compounds, and thus exhibit remarkably high antioxidant capacities (Celik et al., 2018; Colak et al., 2017; Koca & Karadeniz, 2009). It is known that phenolic compounds affect the color, taste, and many physiological events of fruits (Gündoğdu, 2019; Tsukamoto et al., 2018).…”

Effect of hypobaric treatment on the quality and reactive oxygen species metabolism of blueberry fruit at storage

“…is a delicious fruit with pronounced benefits on human health (Kazan, Sevimli-Gur, Yesil-Celiktas, & Dunford, 2017;Li, Li, & Geng, 2011;Norberto et al, 2013). It was suggested to be one of the richest sources of dietary antioxidants and health-promoting bioactive compounds such as anthocyanins, phenols, and flavonoids (Celik, Bozhuyuk, Ercisli, & Gundogdu, 2018;Colak, Kupe, Bozhuyuk, Ercisli, & Gundogdu, 2018;Jara-Palacios et al, 2019;Prior et al, 1998). However, blueberries usually have a short postharvest shelf-life at room temperature due to physiological deterioration or fungal decay (Wang & Chen, 2010).…”