Metabolite profiling of jaboticaba (Myrciaria cauliflora) and other dark-colored fruit juices

Many dark-colored fruit juices, rich in anthocyanins, are thought to be important for human health. Joboticaba (Myrciaria cauliflora) fruits, native to Brazil, have phenolics including anthocyanins, and are processed into juice and other products. The phenolic constituents in the fruits of jaboticaba were studied by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Twenty-two compounds were identified or tentatively determined by detailed analysis of their mass spectral fragmentation patterns; eleven compounds including seven gallotannins, two ellagic acid derivatives, syringin and its glucoside were detected for the first time in the fruit. The compositional differences among the fruit extracts and their commercial products were also compared by principal component analysis; two anthocyanins, delphinidin 3-O-glucoside and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside, as well as two depsides, jaboticabin and 2-O-(3,4-dihydroxybenzoyl)-2,4,6-trihydroxyphenylacetic acid present in the fruit extracts were not detected unexpectedly in commercial jaboticaba juice or jam. Therefore stability of anthocyanins in jaboticaba fresh fruits and products has been compared directly with that of other dark-colored fruit products made from blueberry and grape, and the same trend of decreasing amounts of anthocyanins was observed in all tested products.