Underutilized Native Biobío Berries: Opportunities for Foods and Trade

Abstract

The Biobío Region in Chile presents special edaphoclimatic characteristics and biodiversity that make it suitable for the introduction and development of some berries that are understudied in terms of their health-promoting composition and characteristics. Chilean strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis ssp. chiloensis, form chiloensis) and calafate (Berberis microphylla G. Forst.) have been underused despite having interesting nutritive values and health-promoting capacities. The polyphenolic compositions of Chilean strawberry and calafate were characterized by HPLC-DAD-ESI-MSn analyses, as well as their antioxidant potential (in ORAC and DPPH assays). The major secondary metabolites present in Chilean strawberry and calafate were ellagic acid derivatives and anthocyanins, respectively, being the anthocyanins more closely related to the higher antioxidant capacity found in the berries. Therefore, the Biobío Region berries analyzed are rich in bioactive phytochemicals with health-promoting characteristics. This represents an opportunity for the food industry and for international trade with Chilean berries, as well as a potential way of promoting rural development in the region.

Native Species Facing Climate Changes: Response of Calafate Berries to Low Temperature and UV Radiation

“…However, in this research we considered the sum of all flavanols and other phenolic compounds detected by HPLC-DAD and contained in calafate samples per year. Thus, phenolic compound quantities (other than anthocyanins) (2.69–3.59 mg g −1 sample FW) were similar to the results reported by López and colleagues [ 20 ]. The behavior of flavanols can be attributed to UV radiation combined with the water deficit.…”

“…These results are comparable with those obtained for calafate fruits (15 mg g −1 ) in Argentinean Patagonia [ 39 ]. The location and environmental conditions are important because the quantification in other references for the same Chilean berry related to the anthocyanin content was lower (9.4 mg g −1 ) [ 20 ]. Eleven anthocyanidins were detected (Chromatogram is showed in Supplementary S3 ).…”

“…The supernatant was separated in 15 mL tubes. Next, the tubes were merged in ultrasound (1 h) and kept at 4 °C overnight [ 20 ]. Independent extracts were prepared for each year’s samples and the aliquots were stored at −20 °C.…”

Description of the antioxidant capacity of Calafate berries (Berberis microphylla) collected in southern Chile

“…Sample preparation: 0.5 g of freeze-dried sample was mixed in 5 mL of methanol, formic acid and water at a ratio of 25:1:24 respectively, and then subjected to 60 minutes of ultrasound, 24 hours of incubation at 4 °C and centrifugation at 3500 rpm for 15 minutes to separate the supernatant, which was then filtered through a PVDF filter 22 µm (Millex HV13, Millipore, Bedford, MA, USA) and stored at 4 °C before analysis, following the protocol described (López et al, 2018).…”

Spray-Dried Formulations Rich in Malvidin from Tintorera Grape Wastes: Characterization, Stability, and Storage

“…Peonidin 3,7-O-diglucoside was also identified, as previously found by [5], since 2 clear productions were generated from m/z 625 (m/z 463 and 301), although it was not quantified. Anthocyanins 3,7-diglucosides and 3,5-diglucosides have been described in other plants and their structures have been unequivocally elucidated by 1 H NMR data [21]. Peaks 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 presented derivatives of the 3-glucosides of the anthocyanidins delphinidin, cyanidin, petunidin, peonidin, and malvidin, respectively.…”