Berry fruit teas: Phenolic composition and cytotoxic activity

A detailed phenolic composition analysis of dry chokeberry, bilberry and black currant fruit teas prepared on the most common ways - decoction and infusion, was performed, together with evaluation of cytotoxic activity. The most abundant in phenolics were chokeberry teas, followed by bilberry and black currant teas, while the highest anthocyanin amount was determined in bilberry samples. LC/DAD/MS method was used for identification of 17 anthocyanins, 11 flavonoids and 4 hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives. Quantitative analysis of investigated teas was carried out by HPLC analysis, and major phenolic compounds in berry fruit teas were chlorogenic acids, quercetin glycosides and anthocyanin glycosides. Berry teas were investigated for cytotoxic activity against cervix carcinoma, melanoma, colon, and chronic myelogenous leukemia cell lines, and chokeberry decoction was the most effective against all cell lines. According to the results obtained in this study, pure chokeberry, bilberry and black currant teas could be valuable sources of flavonoids and anthocyanins.