Andean blueberry (Vaccinium floribundum Kunth), also known as mortiño, is a promising wild berry of the family Ericaceae that grows spontaneously in the Andean regions of Ecuador. The demand for these small (~8 mm diameter), black, and round fruits has been increasing due to their antioxidant characteristic, similar to other Vaccinium species, such as cranberry, blueberry, or bilberry, mostly related to the high content of (poly) phenolic compounds.
The consumption of berries has been associated with health-promoting effects, such as reductions in the incidence of degenerative and chronic diseases (cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer, among others), mainly due to the presence of bioactive compounds (phenolic compounds, vitamins, and carotenoids), associated with radical scavenging capacity and epigenetic mechanisms [1]. Clinical intervention studies have also shown that phenolic compounds from berries, particularly anthocyanins, are able to improve the profile of inflammatory markers and the total antioxidant status, these effects being more evident with chronic dietary interventions [2].
Andean blueberry (Vaccinium floribundum Kunth), also known as mortiño, is a promising wild berry of the family Ericaceae that grows spontaneously in the Andean regions of Ecuador. The demand for these small (~8 mm diameter), black, and round fruits has been increasing due to their antioxidant characteristic, similar to other Vaccinium species, such as cranberry, blueberry, or bilberry, mostly related to the high content of (poly) phenolic compounds.
The phytochemical evaluation of these fruits is essential to assess their potential health-promoting effects before an intervention study, establishing their characteristics for use in the food, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical industries. Unlike many other Ibero-American fruits and vegetables, the carotenoid profile of Andean blueberry is basically unknown [3]. The study of carotenoids is very important as they are very versatile compounds with many applications in agro-food and nutricosmetics [4,5][4][5]. As far as we know, only few works have published the profile and content of phenolic compounds in V. floribundum Kunth evaluated by HPLC–MS/MS [6,7][6][7]. These results are varied and influenced by many factors, including differences among varieties, maturity of the fruit, environmental parameters, and pre-/postharvest handling [8]. Aside from phytochemical evaluation, in vitro antioxidant capacities [7,9][7][9] and antimicrobial activities [10] have been reported in Andean blueberry. However, further experiments are required before taking a step ahead through in vivo assays and clinical trials. In this sense, the aim of this study was to evaluate the phytochemical profile of V. floribundum Kunth from the local market in Machachi (Ecuador) by HPLC–DAD–MS/MS and assess its antioxidant capacity in vitro by ABTS· (2,2′-Azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt), DPPH− (2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) and ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) methods and its antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, identifying substantial differences with previous reports. In addition, the in vivo toxicity effect by the zebrafish embryogenesis test and the in vivo antioxidant capacity using the zebrafish animal model (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) test) were evaluated for the first time, simulating physiological conditions through an aqueous extract. Additionally, the presence of lectins in Andean blueberry as antinutritional factors were newly investigated. Finally, the bioaccessibility of phenolic compounds was studied after an in vitro gastrointestinal digestion, evaluating also the antioxidant activity in the different phases of digestion, which may ultimate the physiological effect and role of Andean blueberry within the organism. These results make advances in the knowledge about the health benefits linked to Andean blueberry consumption related to bioactivity, bioaccessibility, and safety, being essential before carrying out further in vivo assays and clinical trials.
Andean blueberry fruits (Vaccinium floribundum Kunth) had high water content (~89%) and appropriate size (weight, length, and diameter) within the quality standards for blueberries (Table 1); nevertheless, these parameters are very varied among species and varieties [24,25][11][12]. Sugar concentration and pH are important parameters for evaluating blueberry quality. This fruit had low pH (2.6), titratable acidity (TTA) of 1.6%, and high amount of soluble sugars (11.2 °Brix), according to the expected range of pH 2.7–3.8, TTA values between 0.3% and 1.3%, and >11 °Brix reported for other blueberry cultivars, these values also being influenced by environmental and growing conditions [26,27,28][13][14][15].
Parameters | Content | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Weight (g unit | −1 | ) | 3.5 ± 0.05 | 1 |
Length (cm unit | −1 | ) | 1.75 ± 0.04 | |
Diameter (mm unit | −1 | ) | 8.5 ± 0.75 | |
pH | 2.61 ± 0.05 | |||
Moisture (%) | 88.69 ± 0.08 | |||
°Brix | 11.17 ± 0.03 | |||
Titratable acidity (% citric acid) | 1.62 ± 0.00 |
In this sense, Andean blueberry is a sweet fruit with a pleasant acid flavor that could be consumed not only fresh but also as derived products, such as juice, jam, jelly, or wine, or could be used as food ingredient with potential technological applications, such as antioxidant and dying properties [26,29][13][16].
In Andean blueberry fruits, mainly phenolic compounds were detected and one carotenoid was found. The characterization of phenolic compounds of these fruits was performed by the identification of individual compounds by HPLC-DAD-ESI/MSn (Table 2) and the subsequent quantification using HPLC-DAD (Table 3), revealing a wide range of different (poly) phenols. A total of 16 phenolic compounds were identified following their main ion [M−H]− (m/z) and MSn fragmentation ions.
Peak Number | Rt (min) | DAD λ (nm) | [M−H] | − | Fragment Ions (MS | n | ) | Phenolic Compounds | 1 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6.0 | 330 | 707 (2[M−H] | − | ) 353 |
191, 179 | 3- | O | -Caffeoylquinic acid * |
2 | |||||||||
15 | |||||||||
41.2 | |||||||||
360 | |||||||||
433 | |||||||||
301 |
Concentration | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Phenolic Compounds | (µg/g DW) | |||||||||||
Hydroxycinnamic acids | ||||||||||||
10.8 | O | 330 | -Caffeoylquinic acid | 236.1 | ± 37.7 353 | 1 | 191 | 5- | O | -Caffeoylquinic acid | ||
3 | 16.7 | 280, 520 | 465 | 303 | Delphinidin-3- | O | -hexoside I | |||||
5- | O | -Caffeoylquinic acid | 845.5 | ± 1.25 | 4 | 18.5 | 280, 520 | 465 | 303 | Delphinidin-3- | O | -hexoside II |
Caffeoylshikimic acid | 35.8 | ± 1.58 | 5 | 19.6 | 280, 520 | 449 | 287 | Cyanidin-3- | O | -hexoside I | ||
Caffeic acid derivative | 273.0 | 6 | 20.8 | 280, 520 | 435 | 303 | Delphinidin-3- | O | -pentoside | |||
7 | ||||||||||||
Quercetin-3- | ||||||||||||
O | ||||||||||||
3- | ± 40.0 | |||||||||||
Total | 1390.3 | ± 78.9 | 21.8 | 280, 520 | 449 | 287 | Cyanidin-3- | O | -hexoside II | |||
Anthocyanins | 8 | 23.9 | 280, 520 | 419 | 287 | |||||||
Delphinidin-3- | O | -hexoside I | Cyanidin-3- | O | -pentoside | |||||||
395.7 | ± 58.5 | 9 | 26.6 | 320 | 335 | 179, 161, 131 | Caffeoylshikimic acid | |||||
Delphinidin-3- | O | -hexoside II | 274.010 | 28.7 | 360 | 433-pentoside III | ||||||
± 50.0 | 323, 179, 161 | Caffeic acid derivative | ||||||||||
16 | ||||||||||||
Cyanidin-3- | O | -hexoside I | 1963.9 | ± 140 | 11 | 33.6 | 360 | |||||
Delphinidin-3- | O | -pentoside | 463 | 301 | Quercetin-3- | O | -hexoside I | |||||
392.1 | ± 29.5 | 12 | ||||||||||
Cyanidin-3- | 35.2 | O | 360 | -hexoside II | 71.1 | ± 22.3463 | 301 | Quercetin-3- | O | -hexoside II | ||
13 | 37.5 | |||||||||||
Cyanidin-3- | O | -pentoside360 | 433 | 301 | Quercetin-3- | O | -pentoside I | |||||
2289.8 | ± 327 | 14 | 39.6 | 360 | 433 | 301 | Quercetin-3- | O | -pentoside II | |||
Total | 5386.4 | ± 567 | 42.8 | |||||||||
Flavonols | 360 | |||||||||||
Quercetin-3- | O | -hexoside I | 849.7 | ± 25.9447 | 301 | Quercetin-3- | O | -rhamnoside |
Quercetin-3- | ||||
O | ||||
-hexoside II | ||||
70.0 | ||||
± 13.9 | ||||
Quercetin-3- | ||||
O | ||||
-pentoside I | ||||
186.0 | ||||
± 23.1 | ||||
Quercetin-3- | O | -pentoside II | 45.4 | ± 2.47 |
Quercetin-3- | O | -pentoside III | 683.5 | ± 23.5 |
Quercetin-3- | O | -rhamnoside | 219.0 | ± 25.9 |
Total | 2095.5 | ± 184 | ||
Total phenolic compounds | 8875.3 | ± 787 | ||
Carotenoids | ||||
Lutein | 5.94 | ± 1.34 |
Four hydroxycinnamic acids were found, all of them being caffeoyl acid derivatives. Compound 1 was found as an adduct of 3-O-caffeoylquinic acid; this dimer is usually formed as an artefact of the mass spectrometry analysis, having a [2M−H]− adduct ion at m/z 707 and [M−H]− ion at m/z 353, which produced MS2 ions at m/z 191 and 179, which evidenced its tentative identification [30][17]. The 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid (2) also showed [M−H]− ion at m/z 353, and the daughter ion at m/z 191. Compound 9, caffeoylshikimic acid, gave its characteristic [M−H]− ion at m/z 335 with MS2 fragmentation peaks at m/z 179, 161, and 131 [6,7,31][6][7][18]. Finally, compound 10 exhibited [M−H]− ion at m/z 433 and gave MS2 fragmentation peaks at m/z 323, 179, and 161, being characteristic of caffeoylquinic acid derivatives [32][19]. This information, along with its characteristic spectrum with absorption at 320 nm, led us to the tentative identification of this compound as caffeic acid derivative, according to previous works analyzing V. floribundum [6] and Vaccinium meridionale [33][20].
Compounds 3–8 were detected as glycosylated anthocyanin derivatives of delphinidin and cyanidin, with the typical molecular ion at m/z 303 and 287, respectively, bound to a glucose or pentose, with a loss of 162 or 132 mass units, respectively. This anthocyanin profile agrees with previous works analyzing Andean blueberry [6,7][6][7]. Compounds 11–16 belonged to the flavonoid family, all of them being derivatives of quercetin, with the typical MS2 fragment of m/z 301 and a loss of 162 mass units in case of glucose, 132 due to pentose, and 146 because of the deoxyhexoside rhamnose. Other authors also found quercetin-3-glycosides as the predominant flavonols in this fruit [3]. Additionally, small amounts of two different myricetin derivatives were identified in mortiño berries [4].
The quantification of phenolic compounds (Table 3) showed anthocyanins as the main group present in the samples (~60% of the total phenolic compounds). Among them, cyanidin-3-O-pentoside and cyanidin-3-O-hexoside I were the predominant anthocyanins (~80% of the total), followed by delphinidin hexosides, accounting for 19%. These results agree with the distribution of anthocyanins described in V. floribundum before, showing anthocyanin contents in the range 3–10 mg/g DW, mainly constituted by cyanidin glycosides [6,7,34][6][7][21]. This accumulation of delphinidin and cyanidin-type anthocyanins has been related to the deep purple-black color of berries, these contents being affected by differences in the growth conditions or ripening stage of the fruits [35][22].
Regarding flavonols, these compounds accounted for 24% of the total phenolic compounds, all of them being quercetin glycosides. The contents of quercetin-3-O-hexoside I and quercetin-3-O-pentoside III were significantly high, corresponding to 70% of the total flavonols, as reported by You et al. [36][23].
Finally, hydroxycinnamic acids constituted 15.7% of the total, mainly represented by caffeoylquinic acids, the isomer of the chlorogenic acid 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid being the most representative compound (Table 3), according to previous studies showing chlorogenic acid derivatives as the main phenolic acids in V. floribundum [6,33][6][20].
Diverse contents of phenolic acids (1–3 mg g−1 DW) and flavonols (2–4 mg g−1 DW) were described before by HPLC in Andean blueberry [6,7[6][7][20][23],33,36], as several factors may affect the concentration of total phenolic compounds in blueberries, such as agronomic factors, cultivars and varieties, geographic region, storage conditions, ripeness, climate, and others, which are reported in the literature with varied contents of total phenolic compounds in Vaccinium sp. (0.5–7 mg g−1 FW; ~5–40 mg g−1 DW) [6,33,36][6][20][23].
On the other hand, the carotenoid content was studied using a rapid resolution liquid chromatography (RRLC) by comparing the chromatographic UV–VIS spectroscopic characteristics with the standards. Results showed lutein (5.94 µg g−1 DW = 0.67 µg g−1 FW) as the only carotenoid found in Andean blueberry (Table 3). Recently, other authors showed lutein as the main carotenoid in higher concentrations (8.7 µg g−1 FW), but also β-carotene in lower amounts (0.7 µg g−1 FW) [9]. On the other hand, only β-carotene (0.4 µg g−1 FW) was found in Andean blueberry by Vasco et al. [7]. These differences among Andean blueberry fruits affirm that similar varieties may contain diverse individual and total bioactive compounds depending on factors of different nature, including stage of maturity, variety, harvesting season or production, postharvest processing, and storage conditions, among others [37][24].
Gastrointestinal (GI) Phase | Total Phenolic Content (mg GAE g | −1 | ) | % Loss | % Bioaccessibility | Antioxidant Capacity (µmol Trolox g | −1 | ) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Initial | 11.27 ± 0.20 | 1 | a | 40.53 ± 2.40 b | ||||
Oral | 10.10 ± 0.94 a | 10 | 90 | 41.67 ± 1.73 b | ||||
Gastric | 9.54 ± 1.09 a | 15 | 85 | 25.94 ± 2.14 c | ||||
Intestinal | 6.36 ± 0.36 b | 43 | 56 | 68.67 ± 2.98 a | ||||
Final | 5.74 ± 0.62 b | 49 | 51 | 63.97 ± 4.79 a |
Andean blueberry is a relevant source of phenolic compounds, mainly anthocyanins, which may be responsible for its high antioxidant capacity. In addition, the freeze-dried extract of Andean blueberry did not show toxicity and could be included in the safe category as a natural ingredient. These characteristics make Andean blueberry suitable to be used as a functional ingredient with potential technological applications in the food industry, such as natural antioxidant or dye, or in the pharmaceutical industry for the development of nutraceuticals. Due to the substantial differences in phytochemical profile among Vaccinium spp. and varieties reported in the literature, the identification and quantification of bioactive compounds of Andean blueberry performed in this work is part of the study of this berry as an interesting candidate for the further evaluation of its health benefits through in vivo assays and clinical trials. In this work, the in vitro simulated digestion showed a gradual release of phenolic compounds but a sustained antioxidant activity, increasing the reliability of antioxidant data described for berries. It should be note that further in vivo and clinical studies with Andean blueberry should highlight the real effect of these bioactive compounds in the body, as the absorption and bioavailability could be affected by different interindividual factors.
Nieves Baenas (UMU, Spain), Jenny Ruales (EPN, Ecuador), Diego A. Moreno (CEBAS-CSIC), Daniel Barrio (CIT Rio Negro, Argentina), Carla M. Stinco (U. Sevilla, Spain), Gabriela Martínez-Cifuentes (EPN, Ecuador), Antonio J. Meléndez-Martínez (U. Sevilla, Spain) and Almudena García-Ruiz (IMDEA Food, UAM-CSIC, Spain) contributed to this work through international cooperation thematic networks of the CYTED Program (Refs. 112RT0460-CORNUCOPIA and 112RT0445-IBERCAROT).