Characterization of anthocyanins in caucasian blueberries (Vaccinium arctostaphylos L.) native to Turkey.

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) combined with diode array (DAD) and electrospray ionization mass spectrometric (ESI-MS) detections were used to characterize anthocyanins in the berries of Vaccinium arctostaphylos L. The dark purple-black berries were collected from five Caucasian blueberry populations in northeastern Turkey. The HPLC-DAD profile consisted of 19 anthocyanin peaks, but HPLC-ESI-MS revealed fragment ion patterns of 26 anthocyanins. Delphinidin, cyanidin, petunidin, peonidin, and malvidin were all glycosylated with four different monosaccharide moieties (galactose, glucose, arabinose, and xylose) with the first two also conjugated with rhamnose. Furthermore, anthocyanidin disaccharides, tentatively identified as anthocyanidin sambubiosides, were characteristic for these berries. The mean content of the total anthocyanins was 1420 mg/100 g dry weight. The most predominant anthocyanidins were delphinidin (41%), petunidin (19%), and malvidin (19%). Glucose was the most typical (61%) sugar moiety. This study revealed that wild Caucasian blueberries contain an abundance of bioactive anthocyanins and thus are ideal for various functional food purposes.