Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.): A Rich Source of Antioxidants, Natural Colorants and Aroma Compounds for the Food Industry

abstrakt

angličtina

Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) is a low-growing shrub that belongs to the family Ericaceae, genus Vaccinium. Fruits are small, spherical, bluish-purple in color, and have a balanced sweet-sour taste and a pleasant aroma. Due to their high content of bioactive substances such as anthocyanins, antioxidants, phenolic compounds, vitamins, and others, they are attributed with many medicinal effects. They have found their application as part of a healthy diet and are also used in traditional medicine. Due to the current trend of replacing synthetic additives with natural substances, their possible use as food ingredients is offered [1]. The samples of wild bilberries for this study were collected in the “Krkonšské podhůří” region in June 2024. To completely characterize their nutritional quality, total phenolic (TPC) and anthocyanin (TAC) contents and total antioxidant activity (TAA) were assessed using the Folin-Ciocalteu, pH differential, and Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity assays, respectively. The results showed their great antioxidant potential – the TPC and TAC were 1173 ± 14 mg gallic acid equivalent and 791 ± 6 mg of cyanidin-3-glucoside equivalent, respectively, and TAA was 3081 ± 121 mg of Trolox equivalent per 100 g of fresh fruits. The specific pleasant flavor of bilberries is based on the balanced content of sugars (namely fructose and glucose) and acids (namely citric, quinic, and malic acid), but it is also related to the content of aroma-active compounds, the most important of which are esters and terpenes, creating a characteristic mix of sweet, fruity, and slightly floral notes. For the determination of aroma-active compounds, headspace solid phase microextraction coupled to gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS) was used in this study. A total of 23 compounds were identified, with (4E)-4-hexenyl acetate (37,1 %), ethyl isovalerate (14,0 %), hexanal (9,7 %), (2E)-2-hexenal (9,4 %) and β-linalool (8,2 %) being the most abundant. The results obtained suggest that the possibility of using bilberry fruits as a potential source of antioxidants and natural colorants in the food industry is worth considering.

KNAPOVSKÁ, P.; VÍTOVÁ, E.

28. 11. 2024

Vysoké učení technické v Brně, Fakulta chemická, Purkyňova 464/118, 612 00 Brno

Brno

978-80-214-6298-4

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https://www.fch.vut.cz/vav/konference/sok/vystupy/sbornik-abstraktu-2024-p276490