Correlation between Species Specific Metabolite Profiling and Bio-Activities of Blueberries (Vaccinium sp.)

Metabolite profiling of three different Blueberries (Vaccinium bracteatum Thunb., Vaccinium oldhami Miquel., and Vaccinium corymbosum L.) was performed using gas chromatography-time of flight-mass spectrometry (GC-TOF-MS) and ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS). Multivariate analysis such as principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) clearly showed the metabolic difference according to species. Sugars were significantly different metabolites in three different blueberry species by GC-TOF-MS analysis. In UPLC-Q-TOF-MS analysis, anthocyanins and phenolic metabolites were mainly identified in blueberry samples. In particular, antocyanins were the major metabolites distinguishing two different species, Vaccinium bracteatum Thunb. and Vaccinium oldhami Miquel. The content of antocyanins such as cyanidin 3-arabinoside, cyanidin 3-O-glucoside, and peonidine 3-O-galactoside was high in Vaccinium bracteatum Thunb., while glycosides of delphinidine, petunidin, and malvidine were high in Vaccinium oldhami Miquel. Antioxidant activities assessed by ABTS and DPPH assays showed the greatest activity in Vaccinium oldhami Miquel and presented the highest correlation with total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, total anthocyanin content, and their metabolites.