Levels of individual anthocyanins and hydroxycinnamic derivates in selected clones of cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus)

Abstract

Cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus) is a dioecious perennial shrub growing on peat land. The berries are a combined fruit with a color ranging from yellow to orange and bright red. Berries are highly valued in the Nordic countries and berries with orange to red color are preferred. Cultivation and breeding has started, and four Norwegian varieties are on the market. These clones were selected on the basis of good shoot production (both sexes), good pollinators (males), and big berries (females). Recently, berry quality has been introduced in breeding programs as a trait for selection. In this study we present the variation in levels of individual anthocyanins and hydroxycinnamic derivates between different clones of cloudberry. Both levels of anthocyanins and hydroxycinnamic derivates varied considerably between the different clones. The most abundant anthocyanin was cyanidin 3-glucoside, followed by cyanidin 3-rutinoside. One single clone (AN1372) from Andøya in Northern Norway had the highest levels of all the analyzed anthocyanins. Among the two analyzed hydroxycinnamic acids, p-coumaric acid presented the highest ratio in all analyzed berries. Differences between different years were relatively high, but not consistent. Levels of caffeic acid did not vary much between clones. The results indicate a genetic basis for the variation between clones, but since numbers of samples were few and sampling only were done during two growth seasons, further analysis will be needed to examine the variation and genetic basis of anthocyanin composition of cloudberry.