Phytochemical Diversity of Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton) Cultivars by Anthocyanin Determination and Metabolomic Profiling with Chemometric Analysis

Originally native to the eastern United States, American cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton, family Ericaceae) cultivation of native and hybrid varieties has spread across North America. Herein is reported the phytochemical diversity of five cranberry cultivars (Stevens, Ben Lear, Bergman, Pilgrim, and GH1) collected in the Greater Vancouver Regional District, by anthocyanin content and UPLC-TOF-MS metabolomic profiling. The anthocyanin content for biological replicates (n = 5) was determined as 7.98 +/- 5.83, Ben Lear; 7.02 +/- 1.75, Bergman; 6.05 +/- 2.51, GH1; 3.28 +/- 1.88, Pilgrim; and 2.81 +/- 0.81, Stevens. Using subtractive metabonomic algorithms 6481 compounds were found conserved across all varietals, with 136 (Ben Lear), 84 (Bergman), 91 (GH1), 128 (Pilgrim), and 165 (Stevens) unique compounds observed. Principal component analysis (PCA) did not differentiate varieties, whereas partial least-squares discriminate analysis (PLS-DA) exhibited clustering patterns. Univariate statistical approaches were applied to the data set, establishing significance of values and assessing quality of the models. Metabolomic profiling with chemometric analysis proved to be useful for characterizing metabonomic changes across cranberry varieties.