Measuring the anthocyanin content of the Australian fruit and vegetables for the development of a food composition database

Abstract

It is well known that changes in the anthocyanin content occur during fruit/vegetable development. However, the anthocyanin content variation due to various analytical methods has not been established in the literature. Therefore, in this study, the individual and the total anthocyanin content of 64 Australian foods have been determined using liquid chromatography (LC-MS, LC-UV) and spectrophotometry methods. Anthocyanin-rich foods were systematically selected and extracted using an optimized ultrasound-assisted extraction method and the total anthocyanin content of the foods was measured using various molar absorptivity values. A comparison of the anthocyanin content between methods demonstrated that the anthocyanin in the same foods showed different degrees of quantification. In general, there was no specific pattern for the anthocyanin type present in similar foods. The comprehensive data with both the total and the individual anthocyanidin-3-glucoside concentration will aid in understanding the functional properties in future research determining food anthocyanin composition.