Role of Flavonols and Proanthocyanidins in the Sensory Quality of Sea Buckthorn (Hippophaë rhamnoides L.) Berries

Abstract

Sensory profile, flavonols, proanthocyanidins, sugars, and organic acids were investigated in purees of six sea buckthorn (Hippophaë rhamnoides) cultivars. The sensory profiles of the purees were dominated by intense sourness followed by astringency and bitterness due to the high content of malic acid. Malic acid and isorhamnetin glycosides, especially isorhamnetin-3-O-sophoroside-7-O-rhamnoside, had close association with the astringent attributes in the different purees, whereas some of the known astringent compounds such as proanthocyanidin dimers and trimers or quercetin glycosides, had less impact. Moreover, the ratios between contents of acids and phenolic compounds were more important predictors of bitterness than the individual variables alone. Astringency and bitterness are important sensory factors for the consumer acceptance of sea buckthorn products. The current study provides new knowledge on the correlations between sensory properties and composition and supports industrial utilization of the sea buckthorn berries.

Analysis of flavour compounds and prediction of sensory properties in sea buckthorn (Hippophaë rhamnoides L.) berries

“…Isorhamnetin‐3‐ O ‐rutinoside (I‐3‐R, 21.4−35.6 % of total FGs) and isorhamnetin‐3‐ O ‐glucoside‐7‐ O ‐rhamnoside (I‐3‐G‐7‐Rh, 28.5−35.2 % of total FGs) were the two most abundant FGs in all the samples (Table ). The latter compound had been reported to have a close association with the astringent attributes of SB berries (Ma et al , ). The content of total FGs varied significantly from 35.0 to 158.4 mg/100g fresh berry among all the cultivars ( P < 0.05, Table ), nearly 5 fold.…”

“…In particular, isorhamnetin‐3‐ O ‐sophoroside‐7‐ O ‐rhamnoside (I‐3‐S‐7‐Rh) was a strong factor for all attributes except bitterness (Table ). Previously, the content of I‐3‐S‐7‐Rh had been found to be closely related to the astringent attributes of SB purees (Ma et al , ). Besides I‐3‐S‐7‐Rh, the contents of I‐3‐R, Dimer‐2 and total PAs were correlated strongly to the predicted mouth‐drying astringency.…”

“…Ten major flavonol glycosides (FGs) were detected and quantified in this study as described previously (Ma et al , ), of which the sum was taken as total FGs (Table ). Only the glycosides of isorhamnetin (Is, 85.7−95.2 %) and quercetin (Qu, 4.8−14.3 %) were detected in studied samples.…”

“…The chemical composition has strong correlation with the intensities of sensory attributes in the SB berries (Tiitinen et al , ; Ma et al , ; Ma et al , ). The predicted attributes of the berries of five cultivars commonly were associated with sugars, acids and phenolic compounds (Table ).…”

“…In SB berry, intense sourness induced mainly by abundance of malic acid would have a negative influence on the pleasantness (Laaksonen et al , ; Ma et al , ). The astringent and bitter of SB berries have been reported to have a correlation with the contents of flavonols, proanthocyanidins (PAs) and ethyl β ‐D‐glucopyranoside (EG) (Ma et al , ; Ma et al , ). Besides these non‐volatile compounds, odour‐active volatiles have crucial influence on the sensory quality of SB berries (Lundén et al , ).…”