Profiling of anthocyanins from blueberries produced in China using HPLC-DAD-MS and exploratory analysis by principal component analysis

In this study, anthocyanins in 17 samples of blueberries of different varieties and geographical origins in China (including Duke, Bluecrop, Northland, Northblue, Spartan, and St. Cloud blueberry varieties) were identified and quantified. Thirteen anthocyanins were identified by means of their absorbance spectrum and fragmentation pattern in tandem mass spectrometry. The anthocyanin profiles from blueberries of all cultivars were similar, but the proportions were cultivar-dependent. Malvidin (41.0%), delphinidin (33.1%), and petunidin (17.3%) were the major contributors to the total anthocyanidin content. The multivariate method of principal component analysis (PCA) was used to evaluate the differences among the cultivars. The results showed that each species could be separated from others cultivated in China, primarily by the proportions of each anthocyanin compound in each blueberry variety. The differences were probably due to the cultivar and climatic factors.