Variation of total phenolics, anthocyanins, ellagic acid and radical scavenging capacity in various raspberry (Rubus spp.) cultivars Ramune ˙ Bobinaite ˙ a,b , Pranas Viškelis a,b , Petras Rimantas Venskutonis a,⇑ a Department of Food Technology, Kaunas University of Technology, Radvile ˙nu ˛ pl. 19, LT-50254 Kaunas, Lithuania b Institute of Horticulture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Kauno St. 30, LT 54333 Babtai, Kaunas Dist., Lithuania article info Article history: Received 18 July 2011 Received in revised form 19 October 2011 Accepted 22 November 2011 Available online 13 December 2011 Keywords: Raspberry Rubus spp. Ellagic acid Phenolics Anthocyanins DPPH radical scavenging capacity abstract The aim of this study was to assess the level of some phytochemicals in 19 raspberry cultivars grown in Lithuania. The content of total ellagic acid measured after 20 h acidic hydrolysis of investigated raspberry cultivars, varied from 119.8 (cv. ‘Pokusa’) to 323.5 mg/100 g (cv. ‘Bristol’). The content of total phenolics ranged from 278.6 (cv. ‘Pokusa’) to 714.7 mg/100 g (cv. ‘Bristol’). The total anthocyanins content varied from 2.1 (yellow cv. ‘Beglianka’) to 325.5 mg/100 g (black cv. ‘Bristol’). The radical scavenging capacity of the tested raspberry cultivars highly correlating with their total phenolics and total ellagic acid content (r = 0.90 and 0.92, respectively). The results of this study expand the knowledge about variation in the content of valuable bioactive compounds in raspberries and may help for the selection and validation of the most productive cultivars. Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Raspberries are among the most popular berries in the world, which are consumed as fresh fruits and processed to jams, confi- tures and other products or as ingredients in various foods. The European red raspberry (Rubus idaeus L. subsp. idaeus), the North American red raspberry (R. idaeus subsp. strigosus Michx) and the black raspberry ( Rubus occidentalis L.) are the most commercially important species. Numerous studies demonstrated that various phytochemical constituents of berry fruits exhibit a wide range of biological effects, including antioxidant, anti-carcinogenic, vasodilatory and antimicrobial properties (Mullen et al., 2002; Paredes-López, Cervantes-Ceja, Vigna-Pérez, & Hernández-Pérez, 2010). The most significant health benefits of berry fruits are attributed to the phenolic compounds, such as flavonoids, phenolic acids and tannins (Paredes-López et al., 2010). For instance, Ovaskainen et al. (2008) estimated a dietary intake and major food sources of polyphenols in Finnish adults and concluded that among 143 food items, berries were superior in terms of polyphenol concentrations. Due to a high content and wide diversity of phenolic compounds and their health-promoting properties, berries are often regarded as natural functional products. Raspberries, as possessing high antioxidant potential fruits, are a valuable source of potentially healthy compounds (Beekwilder, Hall, & Ric de Vos, 2005). The antioxidant properties of red raspberries are associated with a high content of anthocyanins, ellagic acid derivatives and vitamin C. Eleven anthocyanins were reported in red raspberries, cyanidin-3-sophoroside and cyanidin-3-(2- glucosylrutinoside) being the major ones (Mullen, Lean & Crozier, 2002). However, significant differences in the amounts of individual anthocyanins were reported for various cultivars within the same species. Cyanidin-3-(2-glucosylrutinoside) was the major com- pound for some cultivars, while cyanidin-3-sophoroside was domi- nant in other breeds (Beekwilder et al., 2005). It was also determined that black raspberries accumulate a considerably higher amount of phenolics and, especially anthocyanins than red raspberries (Weber, Perkins-Veazie, Moore, & Howard, 2008), blackberries (Wang & Lin, 2000) and some black currant cultivars (Moyer, Hummer, Wrolstad, & Finn, 2002). The major anthocyanins, found in black raspberries, are cyanidin-3-rutinoside and cyanidin-3-xylosylrutinoside (Tian, Giusti, Stoner, & Schwartz, 2006). Ellagic acid was reported to exhibit a wide array of biological properties, such as radical scavenging, cancer preventive and sup- pressive effects, antiviral and antibacterial activities (Goodwin, Atwood, & DiMaio, 2009; Nohynek et al., 2006; Ross, McDougall, & Stewart, 2007). In plants ellagic acid is present as a free compound, in glycosyl- ated and/or acylated form, or as ellagitannin derivative usually esterified with glucose. In raspberries, free ellagic acid constitutes only a minor part of the total ellagic acid content (Määttä-Riihinen, 0308-8146/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2011.11.137 ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +370 37 300188; fax: +370 37 555439. E-mail addresses: ramune.bobinaite@stud.ktu.lt (R. Bobinaite ˙ ), biochem@lsdi.lt (P. Viškelis), rimas.venskutonis@ktu.lt (P.R. Venskutonis). Food Chemistry 132 (2012) 1495–1501 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Food Chemistry journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodchem