Phytogenotypic Anthocyanin Profiles and Antioxidant Activity Variation in Fruit Samples of the American Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton)

Abstract

In this study, we conducted an analysis of the qualitative and quantitative composition of anthocyanins and anthocyanidins in different cultivars and genetic clones of American cranberries grown in Lithuanian climatic conditions. Four anthocyanin compounds predominated in fruit samples of American cranberry cultivars: cyanidin-3-galactoside, cyanidin-3-arabinoside, peonidin-3-galactoside, and peonidin-3-arabinoside. They accounted for 91.66% ± 2.79% of the total amount of the identified anthocyanins. The total anthocyanin content detected via the pH differential method was found to be by about 1.6 times lower than that detected via the UPLC method. Hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis showed that the ‘Woolman’ cultivar distinguished from other cranberry cultivars in that its samples contained two times the average total amount of anthocyanins (8.13 ± 0.09 mg/g). The group of American cranberry cultivars ‘Howes’, ‘Le Munyon’, and ‘BL-8’ was found to have higher than average levels of anthocyanidin galactosides (means 3.536 ± 0.05 mg/g), anthocyanidins (means 0.319 ± 0.01 mg/g), and total anthocyanins (means 6.549 ± 0.09 mg/g). The evaluation of the antioxidant effect of cranberry fruit sample extracts showed that the greatest radical scavenging activity of the cranberry fruit extracts was determined in the fruit samples of ‘Woolman’ (849.75 ± 10.88 µmol TE/g) and the greatest reducing activity was determined in ‘Le Munyon’ (528.05 ± 12.16 µmol TE/g). The study showed a correlation between the total anthocyanin content and the antiradical and reductive activity of the extracts in vitro (respectively, R = 0.635 and R = 0.507, p < 0.05).

Changes in the Composition of Biologically Active Compounds during the Ripening Period in Fruit of Different Large Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton) Cultivars Grown in the Lithuanian Collection

“…The authors reported that phenolic acid content did not correlate with the detected antiradical and antioxidant activity, but the content of anthocyanins in cranberries had a moderate positive correlation with the antioxidant activity of cranberry fruit extracts, as determined by the ABTS (r = 0.675, p < 0.05) and the FRAP (r = 0.614, p < 0.05) methods [ 7 ]. Urbštaitė et al found that the correlation between anthocyanin quantity and antioxidant activity assessed by the FRAP method was r = 0.507 ( p < 0.001), and by the ABTS method was r = 0.635 ( p < 0.001) [ 62 ].…”

Relationship between Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant Activity in Berries and Leaves of Raspberry Genotypes and Their Genotyping by SSR Markers

“…It should be noted that the values of the AA determined by the ABTS assay were always higher than by the FRAP assay both for berries (on average by 37%) and leaves during fruiting (on average by 28%). An approximately 1.5-fold excess of the ABTS over FRAP values (in µmol TE/g FW) has been reported for berries and leaves of various fruit and berry crops [ 22 , 63 , 68 ].…”

Evaluation of the Phytochemical Composition of Phenolic and Triterpene Compounds in Fruit of Large Cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton) Grown in Latvia

“…The extraction of anthocyanins and phenolic compounds from cranberry fruit samples was performed according to the methodology described by Urbstaite et al [ 42 , 43 ]. The extraction of triterpenic compounds and phytosterol compounds from cranberry fruit samples was performed according to the methodology described by Sedbare et al [ 44 ].…”