The present study aimed to evaluate the contribution of anthocyanin composition to the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of berries having different anthocyanin composition; blackberry, black currant, and blueberry. Blackberry demonstrated the highest TAC, while it had the lowest total anthocyanin content among the three berries in both of the phenolic extract and anthocyanin fractions. On the other hand, black currant had the highest total anthocyanin content, but the lowest TAC. Cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (cya-3-glc) accounted for 94% of blackberry anthocyanins, and as one of the strongest antioxidants present in these three berries, it substantially contributed to the TAC of blackberry anthocyanin fraction (96.0%). Delphinidin-3-O-rutinoside and cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside in black currant had lower antioxidant capacities compared with delphinin-3-O-glucoside and cya-3-glc, resulting in its lowest TAC among berry anthocyanin fractions examined. Malvidin derivatives, major anthocyanins of blueberry, had considerably lower antioxidant capacity than other anthocyanidin derivatives, such as cyanidin or delphinidin, resulting in lower TAC of blueberry compared with blackberry. Our findings indicate that anthocyanin composition as well as the antioxidant capacity of individual anthocyanins contributes to the TAC of berries rich in distinct anthocyanins.
Keywords: Anthocyanin composition; Black currant; Blackberry; Blueberry; Total antioxidant capacity.