Vaneková Zuzana, Vanek Miroslav, Škvarenina Jaroslav, Nagy Milan
Department of Pharmacognosy and Botany, Faculty of Pharmacy, Comenius University in Bratislava, 83232 Bratislava, Slovakia.
Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Technical University in Zvolen, 96001 Zvolen, Slovakia.
Plants (Basel). 2020 Apr 1;9(4):436. doi: 10.3390/plants9040436.
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.
欧洲越橘（Vaccinium myrtillus L.）的浆果通常在野外采集作为食物来源。它们天然富含具有抗氧化特性的酚类化合物，因此这些浆果常被标记为“功能性食品”。本研究采用欧洲药典9分光光度法，对来自斯洛伐克不同地点的七个欧洲越橘果实样本中的主要酚类化合物（花青素、黄酮类化合物和单宁）含量进行了评估。对环境因素的全面分析表明，几种酚类成分与其各自的环境以及彼此之间密切相关。本研究中具有统计学显著相关性的环境因素是海拔、栖息地类型、阳光照射和土壤碳含量。我们的研究结果表明，在阳光充足且表土未受破坏的地点采集的浆果含有更多的酚类化合物。在来自茂密森林或有明显土壤侵蚀和倒伏破坏的样本中，酚类化合物含量最低。倒伏破坏对欧洲越橘果实次生代谢产物水平的负面影响首次得到描述。本研究未观察到酚类化合物含量与土壤pH值、土壤氮水平或坡度之间的关系。
