BACKGROUND:Anthocyanins are one of the key factors contributing to the quality and biological activities in various berries. Particular attention was devoted to Vaccinium L. berries, because of being commonly consumed in daily life and providing a large potential for the development of new pharmaceutical applications. OBJECTIVE:The present work aimed at establishing a novel UPLC-PDA method for profiling anthocyanins in berries and evaluating their distribution in cultivated lingonberries. METHODS:The method was developed and validated using bilberries (Vaccinium myrtillus L.), cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait.), and lingonberries (Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.) matrices. Anthocyanins content variation was analyzed among 7 different cultivars and 1 infraspecific taxon of lingonberries. RESULTS:The proposed method ensured the separation of 20 compounds, including major and minor anthocyanins and their aglycones, in bilberries, 15 in cranberries, and 9 in lingonberries, during 12 min analysis. Bilberry matrix was distinguished by the most complex profile and the presence of delphinidin and petunidin, which were not identified either in cranberries or lingonberries. Cranberry anthocyanins consisted mainly of the 3-galactosides of cyanidin and peonidin, whereas lingonberry anthocyanins included cyanidin and its glycosides with just traces of other anthocyanins. Obtained anthocyanins fingerprinting results have guidance function in practice and demonstrate valuable chemophenetic information for studied Vaccinium berries. All determined method validation values were considered to be acceptable. Variation analysis of anthocyanins levels among cultivated lingonberries suggested genetic diversity and because of the highest anthocyanins content—the superiority of Russian cultivars (‘Kostromička’ and ‘Rubin’). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive report on the anthocyanins of certain lingonberry cultivars. CONCLUSIONS:This study resulted in the rapid, simple, and validated method, which was shown to be applicable and convenient for routine analysis and authentication of Vaccinium berry samples.

中文翻译：

---

UPLC-PDA方法用于越橘浆果花色苷谱分析的开发，验证和应用

背景：花色苷是影响各种浆果品质和生物活性的关键因素之一。由于越桔越冬越特别重要，因为越桔在日常生活中经常食用，并且为开发新的药物应用提供了巨大的潜力。目的：本工作旨在建立一种新型的UPLC-PDA方法，用于分析浆果中的花色苷并评估其在栽培越橘中的分布。方法：该方法是使用越橘（Vaccinium myrtillus L.），蔓越莓（Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait。）和越橘（Vaccinium v​​itis-idaea L.）基质开发并验证的。分析了7个不同品种和1个越橘属植物的花色苷含量变化。结果：所提出的方法可确保在12分钟的分析过程中，在越橘中分离出20种化合物，包括主要和次要的花色苷及其苷元，在蔓越莓中分离出15种，在越橘中分离出9种。越桔基质的特征是最复杂，且存在蔓越莓或越橘中未发现的翠雀素和矮牵牛苷。蔓越莓花色苷主要由花青素和peonidin的3-半乳糖苷组成，而越橘花色苷则包括花青素及其糖苷以及其他微量的花色苷。获得的花色苷指纹图谱的结果在实践中具有指导作用，并证明了所研究的越桔浆果有价值的趋化信息。所有确定的方法验证值均视为可接受。栽培越橘中花色苷水平的变异分析表明遗传多样性，并且由于花色苷含量最高-俄罗斯品种（“Kostromička”和“ Rubin”）的优势。据我们所知，这是某些越橘品种花色苷的首次综合报道。结论：本研究产生了一种快速，简单和有效的方法，该方法被证明适用于牛痘苗样品的常规分析和鉴定。