Received for review September 30, 2004. Revised manuscript received December 10, 2004. Accepted December 12, 2004. M.N. thanks the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada for support in the form of a research grant.

Abstract:

The composition of phenolic acids in several small berries grown in Northeastern Poland, namely, low-bush blueberries, black mulberries, European juneberries, black currants, fruits of blue-berried honeysuckle, and blackberries, was determined by gas chromatography (GC) and mass spectrometry (MS). The total content of phenolic acids, identified by GC-MS, ranged from 2845.8 ± 141.0 (black mulberries) to 5418.2 ± 228.0 (blue-berried honeysuckle). Twenty phenolic acids were identified in the berries. Of these, hydroxycaffeic, m- and p-coumaric, and 3,4-dimethoxycinnamic acids were the major phenolic acids in blackberries and blueberries, m-coumaric acid was the major phenolic acid in blue-berried honeysuckle and black currant fruits, while salicylic, caffeic, and m- and p-coumaric acids were the predominant phenolic acids in European juneberries. Syringic and veratric acids were detected only in blueberries, while p-hydroxybenzoic and sinapic acids were present only in black currants and o-coumaric acid was present in blueberries and black mulberries. The phenolic acids liberated from esters and glycosidic bonds were the major fractions of phenolic acids in the berries.

Keywords: Phenolics acids; low-bush blueberry (Vaccinium myrtillus); black mulberry (Morus nigra); blue-berried honeysuckle (Lonicera caerulea); black currant (Ribes nigrum); blackberry (Rubus plicatus); European juneberry (Amelanchier ovalis)

Download the full text: PDF | HTML