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Abstract
Blueberry ash (Elaeocarpus reticulatus Sm.) fruit has potential for human nutrition, but there is limited information on this fruit. This preliminary study aimed to characterise blueberry ash fruit and examine the influence of extraction solvents on its phytochemical and antioxidant properties. Blueberry ash fruit is dark blue in colour and is a stone fruit of small size (7 mm) and light weight (0.2 g). However, it has a high portion of flesh (60% of fruit weight), which is edible and can be a potential source of phytochemicals. Water, ethanol, acetonitrile, acetone, and their combination were tested for extraction of phytochemicals from flesh of this fruit. Water or absolute organic solvent was ineffective for extraction of phenolic compounds from this fruit, but mixtures of water and organic solvents were more effective, and 50% acetone was the most suitable extraction solvent. Extraction with 50% acetone, this fruit was found to contain high levels of total phenolic content, flavonoids, proanthocyanidins, and anthocyanins (104 mg GAE/g, 155 mg RUE/g, 78 mg CE/g, and 119 mg CGE/g, respectively). In addition, this fruit was found to possess potent antioxidant properties. Therefore, this fruit should be further studied for identification of its phenolic compounds and further tested for their biological properties.
Highlights
Blueberry ash (Elaeocarpus reticulatus Sm.) belongs to the family Elaeocarpaceae and is an indigenous shrub or small tree growing in rainforest and coastal scrub along the east coast of Australia, from southern Queensland to Flinders Island in Bass Strait [1]
It should be noted that blueberry ash belongs to the family Elaeocarpaceae, whereas blueberry cultivars such as Biloxi and Sharpblue belong to the Vaccinium genus, which is in the Ericaceae family [14]
These findings showed that blueberry ash fruit are much smaller than commercially cultivated blueberry fruit
Summary
Blueberry ash (Elaeocarpus reticulatus Sm.) belongs to the family Elaeocarpaceae and is an indigenous shrub or small tree growing in rainforest and coastal scrub along the east coast of Australia, from southern Queensland to Flinders Island in Bass Strait [1]. There is limited information on the phytochemical and antioxidant properties of blueberry ash fruit. The reason for this is that extraction solvents have different polarities, which selectively extract hydrophilic or hydrophobic phytochemicals from the material [7, 8, 9]. It is important to examine the extractability of phytochemicals from blueberry ash using various extraction solvents to identify the most suitable solvent for characterising its phytochemical and antioxidant properties. As limited information can be found on the characteristics and quality of blueberry ash fruit, this study, for the first time, characterised blueberry ash fruit and examined its phytochemical and antioxidant properties for potential use in nutraceuticals
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