This study investigated the effects of different home food preparation methods on availability of total phenolic contents (TPC) and radical scavenging components, as well as the selected health beneficial compounds from fresh blueberry and carrot. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis revealed that ground carrots using blenders released significantly greater amount of β-carotene than their chopped counterpart, and blueberry samples prepared with different commercial blenders/grinders released different levels of cyaniding-3-O-glucoside and malvidin-3-O-glucoside. Furthermore, microwaving was able to significantly alter the releasable amounts of cyaniding-3-O-glucoside and malvidin-3-O-glucoside from blueberries. In addition, carrots and blueberries processed using different blenders and chopping with or without microwaving differed in their available levels of TPC, and radical scavenging components against DPPH •, oxygen radicals and HO •, as well as their potential anti-inflammatory activities. Taking together, these results indicated that home food preparation approaches may alter the availability of health components from carrots and blueberries. The results also suggested that the influence may depend on the fruit and vegetable type, but not the price of blenders/grinders.
Keywords: blueberry; carrot; high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC); radical scavenging; total phenolic contents (TPC).