Fast and Simple Discriminative Analysis of Anthocyanins-Containing Berries Using LC/MS Spectral Data

Introduction: Anthocyanins are potent antioxidant agents that protect against many degenerative diseases; however, they are unstable because they are vulnerable to external stimuli including temperature, pH and light. This vulnerability hinders the quality control of anthocyanin-containing berries using classical high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analytical methodologies based on UV or MS chromatograms. Objective: To develop an alternative approach for the quality assessment and discrimination of anthocyanin-containing berries, we used MS spectral data acquired in a short analytical time rather than UV or MS chromatograms. Method: Mixtures of anthocyanins were separated from other components in a short gradient time (5 min) due to their higher polarity, and the representative MS spectrum was acquired from the MS chromatogram corresponding to the mixture of anthocyanins. Results: The chemometric data from the representative MS spectra contained reliable information for the identification and relative quantification of anthocyanins in berries with good precision and accuracy. Conclusion: This fast and simple methodology, which consists of a simple sample preparation method and short gradient analysis, could be applied to reliably discriminate the species and geographical origins of different anthocyanin-containing berries. These features make the technique useful for the food industry.