COMPARATIVE BIOCHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF FOREST AND GARDEN BILBERRIES AS A RATIONALE FOR USE AS A SOURCE OF FUNCTIONAL INGREDIENTS

Abstract

The attention of researchers - developers and manufacturers of food products is deservedly attracted by bilberries due to the rich and various complex of natural components that are beneficial to health. Both wild-growing and cultivated bilberries are involved in the sphere of industrial processing. It is traditionally believed that a berry grown in natural habitats is more environmentally friendly and is not inferior to cultivated varieties in terms of nutritional value. The purpose of the work is to conduct a study of the biochemical composition of berries of forest and garden bilberries to analyze its ability to accumulate food and biologically active compounds. The studies were carried out using modern physicochemical analysis methods (spectrophotometric method, HPLC, atomic absorption method). It has been experimentally shown that garden bilberries accumulate significantly more sugars than forest bilberries The trend for indigestible carbohydrates is the opposite: wild-growing bilberries are characterized by a high content of fiber and pectin with a predominance of the protopectin fraction. According to the content of organic acids, no priorities were identified: forest and garden bilberries were characterized by almost the same content. However, malic acid prevails in wild bilberries, and citric acid prevails in garden bilberries. It has been experimentally proven that wild bilberries are significantly superior to garden bilberries in terms of the content of bioactive polyphenolic compounds, anthocyanins, vitamin C, and carotenoids. In the complex of polyphenolic compounds of forest and garden bilberries, the same representatives of flavonoids (quercetin, rutin, catechin, resveratrol) and their metabolic products, phenolic acids (gallic, cinnamic, chlorogenic, ferulic, lilac), were identified. With the same qualitative composition of anthocyanin compounds, differences in quantitative ratios were revealed: cyanidin-3-galactoside prevails in wild bilberries, and delphinidin-3-galactoside prevails in garden bilberries. As for macronutrients, potassium prevails in both types of bilberries, and more calcium accumulates in garden bilberries. Forest bilberries surpass garden bilberries in terms of micronutrient accumulation. Considering the results of the analysis of the chemical composition it is obvious that the berries of forest and garden bilberries are of exceptional interest to food technologists, since they are a source of biologically active and minor components useful for health, as well as natural dyes and antioxidants. Therefore, the use of bilberries and its processing products in the production of food products will make it possible to endow products with healthy properties and realize functional properties in food technologies.