Blueberries : harvesting methods, antioxidant properties and health effects

130 Pages·2016·2.021 MB·English

by  Marsh, Malcolm

NUTRITION AND DIET RESEARCH PROGRESS

B
LUEBERRIES

H M ,
ARVESTING ETHODS
A P
NTIOXIDANT ROPERTIES
H E
AND EALTH FFECTS

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N D
UTRITION AND IET
R P
ESEARCH ROGRESS

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NUTRITION AND DIET RESEARCH PROGRESS

B
LUEBERRIES

H M ,
ARVESTING ETHODS
A P
NTIOXIDANT ROPERTIES
H E
AND EALTH FFECTS

MALCOLM MARSH
EDITOR

New York
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CONTENTS

Preface vii
Chapter 1 Blueberries: Market, Cultivars, Chemical
Composition and Antioxidant Capacity 1
Paula Becker Pertuzatti, Isidro Hermosín-Gutiérrez
and Helena Teixeira Godoy
Chapter 2 Bioactive Compounds, Color and Physicochemical
Parameters of Blueberries 31
Paula Becker Pertuzatti, Milene Teixeira Barcia,
Andressa Carolina Jacques and Rui Carlos Zambiazi
Chapter 3 Blueberries: Antioxidant Properties, Health and
Innovative Technologies 55
Guillermo Petzold, Jorge Moreno, Pamela Zúñiga,
Karla Mella and Patricio Orellana
Chapter 4 Blueberry Anti-Inflammatory Effects over Metabolic
Diseases Associated with Obesity 71
J. Soto-Covasich, M. Reyes-Farias, A. Ovalle-Marin,
C. Parra-Ruiz and D. F. Garcia-Diaz
Chapter 5 Blueberry Extracts Protect against Gross Mouse
Fetal Defects Induced by Alcohol Toxicity 89
Zach S. Gish, Sharang Penumetsa, Diana J. Valle
and Roman J. Miller
Index 111

PREFACE

According to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) statistics, from
1970 to 2011 the world production of blueberries increased approximately 7
times (FAOSTAT, 2012). According to the National Agricultural Statistics
Service (NASS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the
United States is the world leading producer of blueberries, being the second
most produced and commercialized small fruit in the country after strawberry.
There are three main groups of blueberries commercialized and produced in
the world: the lowbush, the highbush and the Rabbiteye (RASEIRA e
ANTUNES, 2004). The high amount of bioactive compounds present in both
the pulp and in the peel of the blueberries, makes it a fresh fruit rich in natural
antioxidants. This book discusses the harvesting methods, antioxidant
properties and health effects of blueberries.
Chapter 1 - The production of blueberry in Brazil began at the decade of
80’s and its commercialization during the decade of 90’s of the XXth century.
Despite being a new crop in the country, it is observed that each day the fruit
has been gaining ground, which led to an increase in the number of producers
and cultivars marketed. The growing in blueberry cultivation in Brazil is
mainly attributable to the privileged climatic conditions with temperate
regions in four states, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná and São
Paulo. Thus, the country has production potential over all the year. In addition,
another economically important aspect is that Brazilian production of this fruit
mainly occurs from December to February, which happens between the
harvest seasons in the United States and that of the European Union that are
the main consumer centers. The health benefits of blueberries became widely
accepted after Prior reported that blueberries had the highest antioxidant
capacity of more than forty fruits and vegetables evaluated. In addition, most
viii Malcolm Marsh
researches have correlated the high antioxidant capacity with the phenolic
content in the fruit, especially flavonoids, because these kinds of compounds
are the major pigments found in these fruits. Among the phenolic compounds,
the blueberries are rich in flavonoids, namely anthocyanins, and flavanols, and
hidroxycinamic acids, which are associated in the literature with beneficial
health effects due to their ability to act as antioxidants, helping to protect the
body against free radicals and thus to avoid various types of cancer.
Roopchand et al. observed that the polyphenols present in blueberry may be
useful for the dietary management of diabetes, because lowered fasting blood
glucose levels, lowered serum cholesterol and reduced weight gain in mice.
Studies dealing with blueberries highlighted that, besides the presence of
phenolic compounds, other interesting compounds such as carotenoids,
tocopherols and ascorbic acid, also are present in this fruit, being sometimes
found in high levels. These compounds may also impact on the antioxidant
capacity of this fruit, once the antioxidant capacity of carotenoids has been
reported in the literature, as well as for tocopherols and ascorbic acid.
However, the composition in bioactive compounds of blueberries can be
highly variable, depending on cultivar, stage of maturation and harvesting and
storage conditions, usually because of its non climacteric nature with regard to
their production and responsiveness to ethylene. Therefore, this chapter aimed
to discuss about the blueberry producer and consumer market, the importance
of blueberry production in Brazil and in the world, which are the cultivars
produced in Brazil, in addition to its chemical and bioactive composition and
its influence in antioxidant capacity.
Chapter 2 - According to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
statistics, from 1970 to 2011 the world production of blueberries increased
approximately 7 times (FAOSTAT, 2012). According to the National
Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) of the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA), the United States is the world leading producer of
blueberries, being the second most produced and commercialized small fruit in
the country after strawberry. There are three main groups of blueberries
commercialized and produced in the world: the lowbush, the highbush and the
Rabbiteye (RASEIRA e ANTUNES, 2004). The high amount of bioactive
compounds present in both the pulp and in the peel of the blueberries, makes it
a fresh fruit rich in natural antioxidants. Therefore, the identification and
quantification of the major bioactive compounds and some physicochemical
parameters in the peel, pulp and entire fruit of six blueberry cultivars
belonging to the Rabbiteye group are discussed in this chapter. Phenolic
compounds, anthocyanins, color, hydrolyzed and condensed tannins,
Preface ix
carotenoids and physicochemical analyses were done. There were evaluated
Powderblue, Briteblue, Bluebelle, Climax, Delite and Woodard cultivars. The
blueberry fruits showed as rich sources of phenolic compounds and
anthocyanins, besides to have considerable amounts carotenoids and tannins.
All phytochemicals analyzed were found at the highest levels in the peels of
blueberry cultivars tested.
Chapter 3 - Blueberries are a soft and small fruit native to North America
with an attractive blue color. In addition, blueberries are very popular because
they have low calories, high nutritional value and important antioxidant
properties. Blueberries have an interesting content of phenolic compounds
with high antioxidant capacity against free radicals and reactive species, such
that blueberry consumption may have a potential beneficial effect on human
health. Innovative technologies in the food industry are new technologies
based to develop more efficient process or products, reduction of energy and
water. Innovative technologies, such as freeze concentration, osmotic
dehydration and vacuum impregnation at mild temperatures, are considered
minimal processing techniques because they preserve the fresh characteristics
of fruits such as blueberries. Freeze concentration is an innovative technology
for producing a blueberry concentrate juice in a process at low temperatures
where no vapor/liquid interface exists. On the other hand, osmotic dehydration
and vacuum impregnation of blueberries preserves different valuable attributes
of the fruit, providing products with an extended shelf-life.
Chapter 4 - Inflammation is a natural defense mechanism triggered as a
response to an alteration of the physiological functions in the organism. This
process is responsible for the secretion of mediators crucial for tissues repair,
integrating different signalling pathways between distinct cells and organs.
Likewise, it has been observed that in metabolic diseases some classic
mediators present during short-term inflammation are involved, although the
features of its actions differ from the classic pathways. Thus it is considered as
a subclass of inflammation often referred as meta-inflammation. In the case of
obesity for example, this response is exacerbated and, at the long term, a
chronic inflammatory state associated with cardiovascular diseases, insulin
resistance and type-2 diabetes development is established. Since obesity-
associated inflammation is known to be a key feature of the etiology of non-
communicable diseases, several efforts have been made for identifying novel
agents with anti-inflammatory properties capable of ameliorate its negative
long-term effects. In this regard, blueberry consumption has been described to
induce important health benefits through anti-inflammatory and antioxidant
features. Therefore, in the present chapter, the authors will discuss the impact