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Survey of antioxidant capacity and phenolic composition of blueberry, blackberry, and strawberry in Nanjing

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Abstract

Berries are a good source of natural antioxidants. In the present study, the total antioxidant capacity and phenolic composition of three berry fruits (blueberry, blackberry, and strawberry) cultivated in Nanjing were investigated. Blueberry, with a Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) value of 14.98 mmol Trolox/100 g dry weight (DW), exhibited the strongest total antioxidant capacity using both the 2,2-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) and the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) methods. Blueberry also had the highest total phenolic content (TPC, 9.44 mg gallic acid/g DW), total flavonoid content (TFC, 36.08 mg rutin/g DW), and total anthocyanidin content (TAC, 24.38 mg catechin/g DW). A preliminary analysis using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) showed that the blueberry, blackberry, and strawberry samples tested contained a range of phenolic acids (including gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, vanillic acid, caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, ellagic acid, and cinnamic acid) and various types of flavonoids (flavone: luteolin; flavonols: rutin, myricetin, quercetrin, and quercetin; flavanols: gallocatechin, epigallocatechin, catechin, and catechin gallate; anthocyanidins: malvidin-3-galactoside, malvidin-3-glucoside, and cyanidin). In particular, the blueberries had high levels of proanthocyanidins and anthocyanidins, which might be responsible for their strong antioxidant activities. These results indicate a potential market role for berries (especially blueberries) as a functional food ingredient or nutraceutical.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Functional Food and Bioactive Compounds, Institute of Farm Product Processing, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, 210014, China

    Wu-yang Huang & Chun-yang Li

  2. Bee Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China

    Hong-cheng Zhang

  3. College of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China

    Wen-xu Liu

Authors
  1. Wu-yang Huang
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  2. Hong-cheng Zhang
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  3. Wen-xu Liu
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  4. Chun-yang Li
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Correspondence to Chun-yang Li.

Additional information

Project supported by the Jiangsu Provincial Agricultural Technology Independent Innovation Fund (Nos. cx(10)441, cx(10)231, and cx(11)4027) and the Jiangsu Provincial International Technology Cooperation Fund (No. BZ2009025), China

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Huang, Wy., Zhang, Hc., Liu, Wx. et al. Survey of antioxidant capacity and phenolic composition of blueberry, blackberry, and strawberry in Nanjing. J. Zhejiang Univ. Sci. B 13, 94–102 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.B1100137

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.B1100137

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