Abstract
Blueberries are eaten fresh or after storing at room temperature, refrigerator or freezer but little is known about changes in food values of wild blueberries due to harvest dates and storage conditions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of harvest date and storage conditions of wild blueberries on berry quality and health related chemistry. We analyzed Vaccinium angustifolium, V. angustifolium var. nigrum, and V. myrtilloides native to NW Ontario, Canada harvested early and late in the season for total phenol (TP), anthocyanin contents (AC), and soluble solids to titratable acidity ratio storing at room temperature, refrigerator and freezer temperature. We also determined their antioxidant content and activity (ORAC). Late harvest and low temperature storage significantly increased TP and AC for most genotypes. In V. myrtilloides TP increased by 50, 44 and 45% respectively at late harvest, 14 days refrigerator and 90 days freezer storage. It also had significantly higher ORAC (22 and 33%) than the other two genotypes. Wild blueberry pickers and consumers can optimize health benefits and quality attributes of blueberries by customizing harvest protocols and choice of cultivar and storage in household fridge and freezer. Blueberry storage, at household fridge and freezer temperature, does not reduce its health benefits.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
AOAC (2005) Association of Official Analytical Chemists. Official method of Analysis of total monomeric anthocyanin pigment content of fruit juices, beverages, natural colorants, and wines. J Assoc Official Anal Chem 88:1269
Ballinger WE, Kushman LJ (1970) Relationship of stage of ripeness to composition and keeping quality highbush blueberries. J Am Hort Soc 95:239–242
Beckles D (2012) Factors affecting the postharvest soluble solids and sugar content of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) fruit. Postharv Biol Tech 63:129–140
Butterfield DA, Castegna A, Lauderback CM, Drake J (2002) Evidence that amyloid beta-peptide-induced lipid peroxidation and its sequelae in Alzheimer’s disease brain contribute to neuronal death. Neurobiol Aging 23:655–664
Castrejon ADR, Eichholz I, Rohn S, Kroh LW, Huyskens-Keil S (2008) Phenolic profile and antioxidant activity of highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) during fruit maturation and ripening. Food Chem 109:564–572
Connor AM, Luby JJ, Hancock JF, Berkheimer S, Hanson EJ (2002a) Changes in fruit antioxidant activity among blueberry cultivars during cold-temperature storage. J Agric Food Chem 50:893–898
Connor AM, Luby JJ, Tong CBS (2002b) Variability in antioxidant activity in blueberry and correlations among different antioxidant activity assays J Am Hort Soc 127(2):238–244
Gillespie KM, Chae JM, Ainsworth EA (2007) Rapid measurement of total antioxidant capacity in plants. Nat Protoc 2(4):867–870
Giovannoni J (2001) Molecular biology of fruit maturation and ripening. Ann Rev Plant Physiol Mol Biol 52:725–749
Howard LR, Clark JR, Brownmiller C (2003) Antioxidant capacity and phenolic content in blueberries as affected by genotype and growing season. J Sci Food Agric 83:1238–1247
Jones CG, Hartley SE (2002) A protein competition model of phenolic allocation 1999. Oikos 86:27–44
Kahkonen MP, Heinamaki J, Ollilainen V, Heinonen M (2003) Berry anthocyanins: isolation, identification and antioxidant activities. J Sci Food Agric 83:1403–1411
Kalt W, McDonald JE (1996) Chemical composition of lowbush blueberry cultivars. J Am Soc Hort Sci 121(1):142–146
Kalt W, Forney CF, Martin A, Prior RL (1999a) Antioxidant capacity, vitamin C, phenolics, and anthocyanins after fresh storage of small fruits. J Agric Food Chem 47:4638–4644
Kalt W, McDonald JE, Ricker RD, Lu X (1999b) Anthocyanin content and profile within and among blueberry species. Can J Pl Sci 79:617–623
Kalt W, Lawand C, Ryan DAJ, McDonald JE, Donner H, Forney CF (2003) Oxygen radical absorbance capacity, anthocyanin and phenolic content of highbush blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) during ripening and storage 2003. J Am Soc Hort Sci 128(6):917–923
Kevers C, Falkowski M, Tabart J, Defraigne J, Dommes J, Pincemail J (2007) Evolution of antioxidant capacity during storage of selected fruits and vegetables. J Agric Food Chem 55(21):8596–8603
Lohachoompol V, Srzednicki G, Craske J (2004) The change of total anthocyanins in blueberries and their antioxidant effect after drying and freezing. J Biomed Biotech 5:248–252
Louis XL, Thandapilly SJ, Kalt W, Tymchuk MV, Aloud BM, Raj P, Le H, Netticadan T (2014) Blueberry polyphenols prevent cardiomyocyte death by preventing calpain and oxidative stress. Food Funct. doi:10.1039/C3FO60588D
Mahadik SP, Mukherjee S (1996) Free radical pathology and antioxidant defense in schizophrenia: a review. Schizo Res 19(1):1–17
Mallik AU (2013) Determining health benefits, horticultural and market potential of wild blueberry ecotypes from northwestern Ontario. OMAFRA Project No. SR0909 Progress report, March
Mittler R, Vanderauwera S, Gollery M, Van Breusegem F (2004) Reactive oxygen gene network of plants. Trends Plant Sci 9(10):490–498
Moola FM, Mallik AU (1998) Phenology of Vaccinium spp. in a black spruce (Picea mariana) plantation in northwestern Ontario: possible implications for the timing of forest herbicide treatments. Can J For Res 28:1579–1585
Papandreou MA, Dimakopoulou A, Linardaki ZI, Cordopatis P, Klimis-Zacas D, Margarity M, Lamari FN (2009) Effect of a polyphenol-rich wild blueberry extract on cognitive performance of mice, brain antioxidant markers and acetylcholinesterase activity. Behav Brain Res 198(2):352–358
Prior RL, Cao G, Martin A, Sofic E, McEwen J, O’Brien C, Lischner N, Ehlenfeldt M, Kalt W, Krewer G, Mainland CM (1998) Antioxidant capacity as influenced by total phenolic and anthocyanin content, maturity, and variety of Vaccinium species. J Agric Food Chem 46(7):2686–2693
R Development Core Team (2009) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. ISBN 3-900051-07-0. http://www.R-project.org
Singleton VL, Rossi JA Jr (1965) Colorimetry of total phenolics with phosphomolybdic-phosphotungstic acid reagents. Am J Ecol Viticult 16(3):144–158
Srivastava A, Akoh CC, Yi W, Fischer J, Krewer G (2007) Effect of storage conditions on the biological activity of phenolic compounds of blueberry extract packed in glass bottles. J Agric Food Chem 55:2705–2713
Vasquez-Araujo L, Chambers E IV, Adhikari K, Carbonell-Barrachina AA (2010) Sensory and physiochemical characterization of juices made with pomegranate and blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries. J Food Sci 75(7):S398–S404
Wang SY, Chen C, Sciarappa Wang CY, Camp MJ (2008) Fruit quality, antioxidant capacity, and flavonoid content of organically and conventionally grown blueberries. J Agric Food Chem 56:5788–5794
Waris G, Ahsan H (2006) Reactive oxygen species: role in the development of cancer and various chronic conditions. J Carcinogen 5:14
Zheng W, Wang SY (2003) Oxygen radical absorbing capacity of phenolics in blueberries, cranberries, chokeberries, and lingonberries. J Agric Food Chem 51(2):502–509
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by a Grant from the Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario (Grant # 9227) awarded to AUM. We thank Toby Braithwaite, Veronica Berini and Saiful Khan for field assistance and data analysis.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mallik, A.U., Hamilton, J. Harvest date and storage effect on fruit size, phenolic content and antioxidant capacity of wild blueberries of NW Ontario, Canada. J Food Sci Technol 54, 1545–1554 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-017-2586-8
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-017-2586-8