Ricerc@Sapienza

Colour is the first organoleptic property that consumers appreciate of a foodstuff. In blueberry (Vaccinium
spp.) fruits, the anthocyanins are the principal pigments determining the colour as well as many of the
beneficial effects attributed to this functional food. Commercial blueberry-derived products represent
important sources of these healthy molecules all year round.
In this study, blueberries were produced into purees comparing two homogenization methods and fur-
ther heated following different thermal treatments. All the supernatants of the homogenates were mon-
itored for pH. Then, the hydroalcoholic extracts of the same samples were characterized by CIELAB and
HPLC-DAD analyses. These analytical techniques provide complementary information on fruit pigments
content as a whole and on quali-quantitative profile of the single bioactive colorants. These data could be
very interesting to know the best manufacturing procedure to prepare blueberry-derived products, well
accepted by the consumers, while maintaining their healthy properties unaltered.