Currants and strawberries as bioactive compounds source: determination of antioxidant profile with HPLC-DAD/MS system

Berry fruits show high antioxidant capacity among plant foods. Medical research has uncovered medicinal properties of pigmented polyphenols, such as flavonoids, anthocyanins, tannins and other phytochemicals, mainly localized in berry skin and seeds. The aim of this work was to contribute to the study of nutraceutical features of some berry fruits (currants, gooseberries and strawberries). The content in different antioxidant compounds in fresh fruits of different cultivars and selections of Ribes spp. and Fragaria x ananassa Duch was analyzed . Fruits of 29 cultivars of 3 different species of Ribes spp. and 5 cultivars of strawberry were analysed by High Performance Liquid Chromatograph coupled to a UV/Vis detector and a mass detector (MS) to identify and quantify the main antioxidant compounds. Regarding the cultivars of Ribes spp., it was confirmed the presence of a high content in phenolic compounds, representing, therefore, an important source of antioxidant compounds. Moreover, results showed that the considered cultivars and selections of strawberries are a good source of bioactive compounds, especially phenolics. The results of this study contributed to give some new insights into the nutraceutical aspects of the considered berry fruit species