Solid-phase extraction of berries’ anthocyanins and evaluation of their antioxidative properties

Solid-phase extraction (SPE) was used to obtain anthocyanin-rich extracts from five berry species: chokeberry, elderberry, black currant, blackberry and blueberry. During SPE more than 94.4% of the sugars and more than 88.5% of the acids present in the crude extracts were separated. The SPE resulted in 90–95.6% anthocyanins recovery. The antioxidative properties of the anthocyanin-rich extracts were tested by measuring their oxygen radical absorption capacity (ORAC), hydroxyl radical averting capacity (HORAC), total peroxyl radical trapping antioxidant parameter (TRAP), scavenging of nitric oxide and inhibition of lipid peroxidation. Elderberry extract revealed the highest ORAC value of 5783 μmol TE/g. Chokeberry extract was the most potent inhibitor of lipid peroxidation and had the highest TRAP value of 4051 μmol TE/g. Blueberry extract had the highest HORAC result – 1293 μmol GAE/g and was the most powerful scavenger of NO. The high antioxidant activity according to all antioxidant assays revealed opportunities to apply these preparations as antioxidants.