Validation and application of the UPLC-PDA method for authenticity control and fingerprinting of anthocyans in Vaccinium L. berries

Abstract

Public interest in beneficial effects of anthocyans considerably enhanced the demand for commercially available anthocyans rich food products and dietary supplements. On account of the prevention of mislabelled origin of Vaccinium L. berry's derived natural products, it is critically important to analyze the accumulation of anthocyans among these berries and implement a valuable tool for authentication purposes [1, 2]. According to these considerations, the present study aimed to develop and validate a novel UPLC-PDA method for anthocyans profiling in berries of Vaccinium genus -lingonberries, cranberries, and bilberries, with potential use for other raw materials. Satisfactory UPLC-PDA method system suitability, linearity, precision, trueness, and specificity for the analysis of anthocyans in tested berries extracts were achieved after the development of the experimental conditions. The proposed method ensured the separation of 20 anthocyans in bilberries, 15 in cranberries, and 9 in lingonberries, during 12 min analysis. In comparison with other techniques, our validated method has the advantage of rapidness, accuracy, and detection of aglycones - anthocyanidins or minor anthocyanins. To the best of our knowledge some of them - cyanidin, peonidin, malvidin in cranberries, cyanidin, and 3-glucosides of malvidin and petunidin in lingonberries, have been reported for the first time. Therefore, this reliable method is suitable for the routine screening and quantification of anthocyans in berr