Effect-Directed Profiling of Strawberry Varieties and Breeding Materials via Planar Chromatography and Chemometrics

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 27; no. 18; p. 6062
• Main Authors: Ristivojević, Petar, Lekić, Nevena, Cvijetić, Ilija, Krstić, Đurđa, Andrić, Filip, Milojković-Opsenica, Dušanka, Morlock, Gertrud E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-09-2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Aliivibrio fischeri; Anthocyanin; Anthocyanins; Antibacterial activity; Antioxidants; antioxidative activity; Berries; Bioactive compounds; Bioassays; Biological activity; Chromatography; Cultivars; Density functional theory; density functional theory calculation; Density functionals; effect-direct analysis; Electron transfer; Essential nutrients; Fragaria; Free radicals; Fruits; Genotypes; HPTLC fingerprint; Hydrogen atoms; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Nutrients; Phenolic compounds; Phenols; Plant breeding; principal component analysis; Principal components analysis; Scavenging; Scientific imaging; Spectrophotometry; Statistical analysis; Strawberries; strawberry genotypes; Romania; Serbia; Asia; Germany
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules27186062

Strawberries are an important fruit in the European diet because of their unique taste and high content of essential nutrients and bioactive compounds. The anthocyanins are known to be colorful phenolics in strawberries. In 17 samples of six strawberry cultivars produced in Serbia, i.e., the common varieties Alba, Asia, and Clery as well as promising breeding materials (11.29.11, 11.34.6, and 11.39.3), the anthocyanin profile as well as antimicrobial and antioxidative activity profiles were determined. All investigated extracts showed antioxidative and antibacterial activities against Gram-negative Aliivibrio fischeri. The responses were quite similar in number and intensity. The HPTLC-DPPH• scavenging assay and HPTLC-Aliivibrio fischeri bioassay coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry identified pelargonidin-3-O-glucoside (Pg-3-glc) as the main anthocyanin and prominent antioxidative and antimicrobial compound in strawberries. The density functional theory calculations at the M06-2X/6-31+G(d,p) level showed that Pg-3-glc quenches free radicals via sequential proton loss electron transfer mechanism in water and in pentyl ethanoate, where the 5-OH group is the most reactive site for proton and hydrogen atom transfer. The results were confirmed via spectrophotometry. The highest total phenolic content was found in Clery and 11.39.3, while statistically significant differences between the genotypes regarding the antioxidant activity were not confirmed. Although very similar in the anthocyanin, antioxidative, and antimicrobial profile patterns, the strawberry genotypes were successfully classified using principal component analysis.