Abstract
Blueberries are rich in bioactive anthocyanins, which are associated with health benefits contributing to reducing the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. The objective of this study was to improve the yield of anthocyanins extracted from rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium ashei) fruits cultivated in Nanjing using ultrasound-assisted extraction and to identify the individual anthocyanins present in the extract. The extraction conditions of blueberry anthocyanins were optimized using response surface methodology. The Box–Behnken test was designed to investigate the effect of extraction using different ethanol concentrations, extraction time, and liquid-to-solid ratios. The optimum conditions of the extraction derived from the model were as follows: extraction time 24 h at 30°C using 72.50% ethanol which contains 0.02% v/v hydrochloric acid as a solvent and liquid-to-solid ratio 20 : 1 v/w. The extraction yield was 16.21 ± 0.44 mg/g under these optimum conditions. The 13 peaks of the anthocyanin extract from rabbiteye blueberry fruits in Nanjing were tentatively identified using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization interface-mass spectrometer (HPLC-ESI-MS), which are the derivatives of delphinidin, cyanidin, petunidin, peonidin, and malvidin that were glycosylated by glucose, galactose, or arabinose. This research provides a reliable scientific basis for efficacious extraction and identification of anthocyanins from blueberry fruits, which would be helpful for further investigation of the function and application of blueberry anthocyanins extract to human health.
Highlights
Blueberries (Vaccinium spp.) have a lot of health bene ts, such as a super antioxidant function, with high levels of anthocyanins [1]
Blueberry fruits are rich in anthocyanins, including malvidin, delphinidin, petunidin, cyanidin, peonidin, and pelargonidin, which were glycosylated by the sugar moieties of hexose or pentose [26]
The ultrasound-assisted extraction method was developed for the extraction of anthocyanins from rabbiteye blueberry fruits cultivated in Nanjing
Summary
Blueberries (Vaccinium spp.) have a lot of health bene ts, such as a super antioxidant function, with high levels of anthocyanins [1]. V. virgatum Ait.), highbush blueberry (V. corymbosum L.), and lowbush blueberry (V. angustifolium Aiton and V. myrtilloides) [2]. Rabbiteye blueberries have strong adaptability to be grown under warmer climate conditions [3], like in the hilly area of Southern China, and there are large-scale rabbiteye blueberry planting bases in Nanjing, China. Ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) has been used in the food and pharmaceutical sectors to extract the bioactive compounds, such as anthocyanins [4]. E eminence of the UAE is a ordable equipment cost, easy operation, less solvent usage, repeatable various samples, environmental-friendly, short extraction time with great capacity, and applicable for large industrial scale [5]. UAE could diminish the damage of anthocyanins [6]
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