Analysis of Anthocya-nin Content of Vaccinium corymbosum, Vitis vinifera and Aronia melanocarpa from East Slovakia

Biologically active natural compounds (e.g., isopre-noids, flavonoids, anthocyanins, alkaloids, organic acids, coumarins, etc.) have proven significant preventive and curative effects in various diseases. In the present study, we have provided a qualitative and quantitative monitoring of anthocyanins in a methanolic extract and a freeze-dried extract of three fruits rich in anthocyanin: blueberries of Vaccinium corymbosum “Berkeley”, grapes of Vitis vinif-era “Lemberger” and chokeberries of Aronia melanocarpa “Nero”. The identification of anthocyanins was carried out by the reverse phase liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. The results indicated that the average con-tent of anthocyanins in the methanolic extract was lower than in the freeze-dried extract. The highest content of anthocyanins was obtained in chokeberry extracts. The process of freeze-drying, however, leads to changes that probably affect the biological activity via changes in the ratio of biologically active compounds.