Quality properties and antioxidant activity of seven strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa duch) cultivars

•Monte Rey had the highest phenolic content irrespective of analytical method employed.•Camarosa had the highest anthocyanin content irrespective of analytical method employed.•Antioxidant capacity was weakly correlated with phenolic content.•Antioxidant capacity was strongly correlated with anthocyanin content.•Cyanidin and pelargonidin hexosides were the predominant anthocyanins.

Strawberry cultivars Albion, Aromas, Camarosa, Camino Real, Monte Rey, Portola, and San Andreas were evaluated for their antioxidant potential. Anthocyanins cyanidin-3-O-glucoside, pelargonidin-3-O-glucoside, and pelargonidin-O-rutinoside were identified by UPLC-PDA-ESI/MS2 in all cultivars studied. Total anthocyanin content (TAC) measured by HPLC/DAD ranged from 15.67 mg/100 g in Camino Real to 27.62 mg/100 g in Camarosa. TAC measured by the pH-differential method was strongly correlated with results from HPLC analysis (r = 0.82). Cultivar Monte Rey showed the highest total phenolic content (TPC), with 2.48 mg/g measured by the Folin-Ciocalteu (FC) method. A strong correlation was observed between TPC measured by the FC and the Fast Blue BB methods (r = 0.71). DPPH radical scavenging capacity (EC50) showed a weak correlation with TPC (r = −0.48) but a strong correlation with TAC (r = −0.93), which indicates that the antioxidant potential of strawberry cultivars can be attributed mainly to their anthocyanin content.