Cultivar Variation in Physicochemical and Antioxidant Activity of Alabama-Grown Blackberries

Abstract Blackberries are an excellent source of natural antioxidants. Fully ripened fruit of ‘Apache’, ‘Arapaho’, ‘Chester’, ‘Loch Ness’, ‘Navaho’ and ‘Triple Crown’ thornless blackberries were evaluated for their physicochemical and antioxidative activity. There were no consistent differences for variation in initial pH, titratable acidity (TA), total soluble sugar (TSS) and TSS/TA ratio values determined. Differences among cultivars with respect to reduced ascorbic acid (AA) were established, but there were no differences in either oxidized ascorbic acid (DHA) or total ascorbic acid (TAA) content. The antioxidant activity as determined by ABTS radical cation procedure for fractionated crude fruit extracts varied in response to parameters evaluated. Hydrophilic antioxidant activity (HAA) was not different among cultivars evaluated. In contrast, differences were found in lipophilic antioxidant activity (LAA) and total antioxidant activity (TAA).