Comparitive Study on Anthocyanin Level and Antioxidant Activity Among the TallStemmed Blueberry Cultivars

The total content of anthocyanins in fruits of 6 highbush blueberry cultivars was deteremined by RPHPLC system and the results showed the average content was 4.62 mg/g, the cultivar ‘Patriot’ fruit had the highest anthocyanin content, while the cultivar ‘Bluecrop’ fruit had the lowest content. Based on the comprehensive evaluation on DPPH radical removing capacity, the total antioxidant capacity and the total reductive ability, it was concluded that the blueberry cultivars with higher level of anthocyanins had a stronger antioxidant capacity. However, there was no clear correlation between the anthocyanin content and the antioxidant capacity when the former content was under a certain level. The comprehensive evaluation indicated that the cultivar ‘Elliott’ showed the highest DPPH radical removing capacity and the highest total reductive ability, showing the best antioxidant effect among the 6 tested cultivars.