LESS KNOWN VACCINIUM: ANTIOXIDANT AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF SELECTED CAUCASIAN WHORTLEBERRY (Vaccinium arctostaphylos) FRUITS NATIVE TO BLACK SEA REGION OF TURKEY

Abstract

There is an increasing interest in the commericalization of native fruits for food and medicinal extract utilization. This study was undertaken to determine the antioxidant and chemical properties of selected caucasian whortleberry from the native region of Northeastern Turkey. Caucasian whortleberry (Vaccinium arctostaphylos L.), a close relative to cultivated blueberries, were harvested from various sites of Black sea region of Turkey and were analyzed for their total phenolic (TP), anthocyanin (TA) contents, and their antioxidant capacity by FRAP and TEAC assays. Specific sugar and organic acid composition were also determined by the help of HPLC. ARC-1, and ARC-6 displayed the highest TP contents (5780 and 5754 mu g GAB g(-1) fw). The TA values were spectrophotometrically estimated and they were varied between 74.7 (ARC-6) and 194.4 (ARC-4) mu g del-3-glu g(-1) fresh weight basis. ARC-1 had the highest amount (19.5 and 23.4 mu mol TE g(-1) fw) of antioxidant capacity or both TEAC and FRAP assays. Fructose and glucose were found to be predominant sugars in all genotypes analyzed. The concentrations of fructose and glucose were averaged at 45.1 and 41.2 g kg(-1) fw respectively. The organic acid distribution of berries was dominated by citric acid (mean of 9.85 g kg(-1) fw). These results may provide evidence that Caucasian whortleberry has strong antioxidant capacity. Also, results of this study may be used for utilization of selected genotypes in the breeding studies of close relative vaccinium plants.