Blueberry paste polyphenolic compounds

Approved by

A.P. Levitsky,

Doctor of Science, professor, correspondent member of Academy of Sciences,

Stomatology Institute (Ukrainian Academy of Science)

Deputy Director

The components determined in the blueberry paste:
Dry substances - gravimetric method [1];
Extractive substances - extraction by isopropanol;
Total lipids - extraction-gravimetric method [2];
total bioflavonoid amount (in terms of rutin) - method [3];
chlorogenic acid content - spectrophotometric method [4];
antiradical activity - method using diphenylpicrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) [5];
Antisuperoxide activity - method [6];
Chelating activity - method [7].

The results obtained are given in the table.

The data obtained testify to the fact that blueberry paste containes a great amount of extractive substances (67.2% dry stuff), which is about 6-7- times more than grape leaves.

Total lipid content in blueberry paste is 1.4% (dry stuff).

Total bioflavonoid content (in terms of rutin) makes 2.0% dry stuff, which makes blueberry a record-holder among other plants. As is well-known, bioflavonoids are classified as vitamin P which contributes to strengthening blood vessels (angioprotector) [8-9].

Blueberry paste contains a lot of chlorogenic acid (CGA is an ester of caffeic and chinic acids) [10] - 9.9% dry stuff (almost 1.8% green weight).

Table Blueberry paste biochemical characteristics (average of three values)

№	Characteristics	Unit	Value
1	Dry stuff	%	17,8
2	Extractive substances	%	67,2 dry stuff
3	Dry fat	%	1,4 dry stuff
4	Total bioflavonoid content (in terms of rutin)	%	2,0
5	Chlorogenic acid content	%	9,9
6	Antiradical activity	Unit/g(dry stuff)	2346
7	Antisuperoxide activity	Unit/g(dry stuff)	13,2
8	Chelating activity	Unit/g(dry stuff)	84,0

As is well known, chlorogenic acid is characterized by antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-virus, anti-bacterial, immunopotentiating and antidiabetic properties.

Blueberry antioxidant properties have been evaluated according to three factors: antiradical activity (using DPPH free radical), antisuperoxide activity (on inactivating superoxide antiradical) and chelating activity (on binding Fe2+ iron ions ).

It has turned out that judging by its antiradical and chelating properties, blueberry paste excels almost all known antioxidants. Even grape leaves, which are the richest source of polyphenols, have 2.5 times less!

Thus, blueberry paste can be considered a unique natural antioxidant product having no equals among various food and pharmaceutical products.