UDEC opens laboratory to analyze antioxidant capacity in fruits

24/10/2016

With the aim of serving mainly producers and processors of blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, berries and fruits in general, the Faculty of Agronomy of the University of Concepción Chillán headquarters implemented a chemical laboratory to analyze the antioxidant capacity in fruits, which has It was developed thanks to the financing of 100 million pesos by the Regional Government, framed in an FIC project (Innovation Fund for Competitiveness, Ministry of Economy).

According to the researcher María Dolores López, responsible for the laboratory, "It is well known that Chile is one of the main producers of blueberries in the world, being the regions of Maule and Bío Bío where the largest production of the country is concentrated. Therefore, having a laboratory nearby to serve all blueberry producers as well as personnel dedicated to fruit processing in the form of juices and jams, mainly, is quite convenient ".

Cranberry and the vast majority of berries have numerous advantages over human health and many of these advantages are due to their high concentrations of antioxidants. That is why they are highly demanded fruits all over the world. However, it is also known that the concentration of these antioxidants is determined by several factors, such as variety, agronomic management and even, edaphoclimatic conditions.

In turn, the processing of cranberry for the manufacture of jams and juices could also overcome a deterioration of the antioxidant power, a subject that has also been studied in the framework of this project.

Lopez pointed out that "The laboratory now has equipment and personnel to serve not only blueberry producers, but also producers and processors of other fruits whose interest is to know the antioxidant capacity".

Among the services offered are the physicochemical measures such as weight, diameter, pH, soluble solids and titratable acidity, as well as measurements of polyphenols and anthocyanins content and antioxidant activity (DPPH, FRAP, ABTS and others). Measurements of the polyphenolic profile are also offered by HPLC-DAD chromatographic techniques, as well as measurement of (volatile) aromas and fatty acids, also by GC-FID chromatographic techniques.

Source: Ladiscusion.cl