Study of extractive processes of bioactive components of mortiño (Vaccinium floribundum K.) by conglomerative analysis

Mortiño (Vaccinium floribundum K.) is a fruit native to the Andean region of South America, a berry rich in polyphenolic compounds and with a high antioxidant capacity beneficial to health, therefore the extraction of functional compounds from this fruit is a good option for the development of functional foods. The aim of this work was to study and classify the different conditions for extracting bioactive compounds from mortiño using statistical cluster analysis. For this purpose, combinations of the following conditions were used: fruit condition (entire-E and ground-G), extraction process (agitation-A and maceration-M) and extraction medium (acidified water-W and acidified methanol- Me), and in each of these conditions the content of total anthocyanins (TAC), total polyphenols (TPC) and antioxidant capacity (ORAC and DPPH) were determined. The results of the cluster analysis showed the formation of three groups. Moreover, the samples of cluster 1 showed the highest values of AT 696.34 mg cyanidin-3-glucoside 100g-1 and PT 132.39 mg EAG 100g-1. In terms of ORAC antioxidant capacity, cluster 1 showed a higher antioxidant capacity (31422.40 μmol TE 100mL-1), while for DPPH the highest value was for cluster 2 (2625.14 μmol TE 100mL-1). It was concluded that the best conditions for the extraction of bioactive compounds from mortiño were crushing the fruit and using acidified methanol as the extraction medium.