Correlation between Species-Specific Metabolite Profiles and Bioactivities of Blueberries (Vaccinium spp.)

Abstract

Metabolite profiling of three blueberry species (Vaccinium bracteatum Thunb., V. oldhamii Miquel., and V. corymbosum L.) was performed using gas chromatography–time-of-flight-mass spectrometry (GC-TOF-MS) and ultraperformance liquid chromatography–quadrupole-time-of-flight-mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) combined multivariate analysis. Partial least-squares discriminant analysis clearly showed metabolic differences among species. GC-TOF-MS analysis revealed significant differences in amino acids, organic acids, fatty acids, sugars, and phenolic acids among the three blueberry species. UPLC-Q-TOF-MS analysis indicated that anthocyanins were the major metabolites distinguishing V. bracteatum from V. oldhamii. The contents of anthocyanins such as glycosides of cyanidin were high in V. bracteatum, while glycosides of delphinidin, petunidin, and malvidin were high in V. oldhamii. Antioxidant activities assessed using ABTS and DPPH assays showed the greatest activity in V. oldhamii and revealed the highest correlation with total phenolic, total flavonoid, and total anthocyanin contents and their metabolites.