ANTIOXIDANT CAPACITY AS INFLUENCED BY TOTAL PHENOLIC AND ANTHOCYANIN CONTENT, MATURITY, AND VARIETY OF VACCINIUM SPECIES

Different cultivars of four Vaccinium species [Vaccinium corymbosum L (Highbush), Vaccinium ashei Reade (Rabbiteye), Vaccinium angustifolium (Lowbush), and Vaccinium myrtillus L (Bilberry)] were analyzed for to tal phenolics, total anthocyanins, and antioxidant capacity (oxygen ra dical absorbance capacity, ORAC). The total antioxidant capacity of di fferent berries studied ranged from a low of 13.9 to 45.9 mu mol Trolo x equivalents (TE)/g of fresh berry (63.2-282.3 mu mol TE/g of dry mat ter) in different species and cultivars of Vaccinium. Brightwell and T ifblue cultivars of rabbiteye blueberries were harvested at 2 times, 4 9 days apart. Increased maturity at harvest increased the ORAC, the an thocyanin, and the total phenolic content. The growing location (Orego n vs Michigan vs New Jersey) did not affect ORAC, anthocyanin or total phenolic content of the cv. Jersey of highbush blueberries. A linear relationship existed between ORAC and anthocyanin (r(xy) = 0.77) or to tal phenolic (r(xy) = 0.92) content. In general, blueberries are one o f the richest sources of antioxidant phytonutrients of the fresh fruit s and vegetables we have studied.