Cargando…

The Influence of Local Habitat and Microclimate on the Levels of Secondary Metabolites in Slovak Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) Fruits

The berries of Vaccinium myrtillus L. are usually collected in the wild for the purpose of being a food source. They are naturally high in phenolic compounds, which possess antioxidative properties, so the berries are therefore often labeled as “functional foods”. This study evaluated seven samples...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Vaneková, Zuzana, Vanek, Miroslav, Škvarenina, Jaroslav, Nagy, Milan
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7238256/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32244743
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/plants9040436
_version_ 1783536504177426432
author Vaneková, Zuzana
Vanek, Miroslav
Škvarenina, Jaroslav
Nagy, Milan
author_facet Vaneková, Zuzana
Vanek, Miroslav
Škvarenina, Jaroslav
Nagy, Milan
author_sort Vaneková, Zuzana
collection PubMed
description The berries of Vaccinium myrtillus L. are usually collected in the wild for the purpose of being a food source. They are naturally high in phenolic compounds, which possess antioxidative properties, so the berries are therefore often labeled as “functional foods”. This study evaluated seven samples of bilberry fruits from different locations in Slovakia for the content of the main phenolic compounds (anthocyanins, flavonoids and tannins) using European Pharmacopoeia 9 spectrophotometric methods. A thorough analysis of environmental factors showed that several phenolic constituents are closely corresponding with their respective environments, as well as with each other. The environmental factors with statistically significant correlations in this study are altitude, habitat type, sunlight exposure, and soil carbon content. Our findings suggest that the berries collected at sunny sites with no topsoil damage contain more phenolic compounds. The lowest amounts of phenolic compounds were found in samples from dense forests or with visible soil erosion and windthrow damage. The negative effect of windthrow damage on the levels of secondary metabolites in bilberry fruits has been described for the first time. This study observed no relationship between the amount of phenolic compounds and soil pH, soil nitrogen levels, or slope exposition.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-7238256
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2020
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-72382562020-06-02 The Influence of Local Habitat and Microclimate on the Levels of Secondary Metabolites in Slovak Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) Fruits Vaneková, Zuzana Vanek, Miroslav Škvarenina, Jaroslav Nagy, Milan Plants (Basel) Article The berries of Vaccinium myrtillus L. are usually collected in the wild for the purpose of being a food source. They are naturally high in phenolic compounds, which possess antioxidative properties, so the berries are therefore often labeled as “functional foods”. This study evaluated seven samples of bilberry fruits from different locations in Slovakia for the content of the main phenolic compounds (anthocyanins, flavonoids and tannins) using European Pharmacopoeia 9 spectrophotometric methods. A thorough analysis of environmental factors showed that several phenolic constituents are closely corresponding with their respective environments, as well as with each other. The environmental factors with statistically significant correlations in this study are altitude, habitat type, sunlight exposure, and soil carbon content. Our findings suggest that the berries collected at sunny sites with no topsoil damage contain more phenolic compounds. The lowest amounts of phenolic compounds were found in samples from dense forests or with visible soil erosion and windthrow damage. The negative effect of windthrow damage on the levels of secondary metabolites in bilberry fruits has been described for the first time. This study observed no relationship between the amount of phenolic compounds and soil pH, soil nitrogen levels, or slope exposition. MDPI 2020-04-01 /pmc/articles/PMC7238256/ /pubmed/32244743 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/plants9040436 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Vaneková, Zuzana
Vanek, Miroslav
Škvarenina, Jaroslav
Nagy, Milan
The Influence of Local Habitat and Microclimate on the Levels of Secondary Metabolites in Slovak Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) Fruits
title The Influence of Local Habitat and Microclimate on the Levels of Secondary Metabolites in Slovak Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) Fruits
title_full The Influence of Local Habitat and Microclimate on the Levels of Secondary Metabolites in Slovak Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) Fruits
title_fullStr The Influence of Local Habitat and Microclimate on the Levels of Secondary Metabolites in Slovak Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) Fruits
title_full_unstemmed The Influence of Local Habitat and Microclimate on the Levels of Secondary Metabolites in Slovak Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) Fruits
title_short The Influence of Local Habitat and Microclimate on the Levels of Secondary Metabolites in Slovak Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) Fruits
title_sort influence of local habitat and microclimate on the levels of secondary metabolites in slovak bilberry (vaccinium myrtillus l.) fruits
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7238256/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32244743
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/plants9040436
work_keys_str_mv AT vanekovazuzana theinfluenceoflocalhabitatandmicroclimateonthelevelsofsecondarymetabolitesinslovakbilberryvacciniummyrtilluslfruits
AT vanekmiroslav theinfluenceoflocalhabitatandmicroclimateonthelevelsofsecondarymetabolitesinslovakbilberryvacciniummyrtilluslfruits
AT skvareninajaroslav theinfluenceoflocalhabitatandmicroclimateonthelevelsofsecondarymetabolitesinslovakbilberryvacciniummyrtilluslfruits
AT nagymilan theinfluenceoflocalhabitatandmicroclimateonthelevelsofsecondarymetabolitesinslovakbilberryvacciniummyrtilluslfruits
AT vanekovazuzana influenceoflocalhabitatandmicroclimateonthelevelsofsecondarymetabolitesinslovakbilberryvacciniummyrtilluslfruits
AT vanekmiroslav influenceoflocalhabitatandmicroclimateonthelevelsofsecondarymetabolitesinslovakbilberryvacciniummyrtilluslfruits
AT skvareninajaroslav influenceoflocalhabitatandmicroclimateonthelevelsofsecondarymetabolitesinslovakbilberryvacciniummyrtilluslfruits
AT nagymilan influenceoflocalhabitatandmicroclimateonthelevelsofsecondarymetabolitesinslovakbilberryvacciniummyrtilluslfruits