LC-DAD and LC-MS-Based Profiling, Total Anthocyanins, Total Polyphenols, and Antioxidant Activity of Nutraceutical Fruits from Colombia

Vaccinium-derived fruits (like highbush blueberry and agraz) are known for their high content of anthocyanins and polyphenols. This kind of metabolites conferring antioxidant properties related to the decreased risk of cancer due to the ability of these compounds to capture free radicals. Methanolic extracts of agraz (wild and commercial) and highbush blueberry fruits were characterized on the basis of the content of total anthocyanins, total polyphenols, antioxidant activity (ABTS radical scavenging, IC₅₀) and were compared based on the chemical profile obtained by LC-DAD and LC-MS techniques. Agraz compared with blueberry exhibited higher contents of anthocyanins and total polyphenols (> 15 mg eq gallic acid/g fresh fruit and > 2.0 mg eq cyanidin-3-glucoside/g fresh fruit, respectively) providing in consequence greater antioxidant capacity (IC₅₀ < 0.5 µg/mL). LC-based analyses of anthocyanins showed that blueberry has a greater variety of anthocyanin-related compounds while the agraz revealed two main anthocyanins. In addition, on comparing the results of wild and commercial samples in our country, there are significant differences in the content of polyphenols and anthocyanins (66 and 75% reduction, respectively), also reflecting a reduced antioxidant activity (42% reduction) by the commercial fruits, possibly due to wrong post-harvest handling and/or ecological reasons.