Comparison of novel blueberry cultivars (Vaccinum corymbosum L.) from southwest Spain as potential sources of dual-function bioactive food colorants

Four novel Vaccinum corymbosum L. cultivars (Cupla, BlueManila, Star and Ventura) grown in southwest Spain were compared as sources of red-bluish antioxidant colorants The phenolic composition, antioxidant activity, color expression and stability against pH (2–6) of extracted anthocyanins from their skins were analyzed. Ventura and BlueManila yielded the highest anthocyanin content and, together with Cupla, produced darker and more intense reddish colorants with higher pH stability. Star cultivar, with lower anthocyanin content but higher proportion of flavonols, produced lighter red-bluish colorants with lower stability. Based on phenolic and colorimetric data, a Linear Discriminant Analysis effectively differentiated the extracts according to the cultivar. By multiple regression models, color parameters (L∗, C∗_ab, h_ab) were predicted with a high correlation as a function of anthocyanin composition, grouped by aglycon or as individual sugar derivatives. Therefore, blueberry cultivar selection represents a useful strategy to obtain dual-function colorants with different composition and coloring properties.