Vitamin C in cranberries

Cranberries belong to a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the genus Vaccinium subgenus Oxycoccus. Cranberries were found containing various types of bioactives, mostly polyphenols, including proanthocyanidins, anthocyanins, flavonols, and phenolic acids. Cranberries are among a few foods that contain A-type proanthocyanidins.

Cranberry juice is rich source of antioxidants, vitamin C and salicylic acid. Cranberries contain vitamin C as evidenced by the presence of citric acid. One cup of Cranberry juice contained a total 8983 antioxidant capacity. Vitamin C is also an important antioxidant. It is important to recall that the antioxidants β -carotene and vitamin E protect water soluble substances from oxidizing agents; vitamin C protects water soluble substances the same way.

Research shows that people who consume cranberries have lower levels of C-reactive protein, a blood marker of inflammation, which is a known trigger of premature aging, chronic illness, and cognitive decline.

Cranberry juice is becoming a popular beverage. The fresh juice is fully as potent as the fruit, but after extraction, bottling, and processing, little of the vitamin C is retained by the methods now in use. Vitamin C is the least stable of all vitamins and it can be easily degraded during processing and storage. The most harmful factors to vitamin C content are the presence of oxygen, prolonged heating in the air ambiance and exposure to light.

The initial content of vitamin C in wild and cultivated fresh cranberries was differing, which mainly depends on varieties’ individuality.

Whole-fruit cranberry sauce as usually prepared contains approximately 80 per cent of the original vitamin C content, but strained sauce retains less than 10 per cent.
Vitamin C in cranberries

Vitamin C in blueberries

Blueberries ripen over a period of several months and keep remarkably well. Fresh blueberries are extensively used as food and are also canned and frozen, and after preservation are used commercially in the bakery, preserve, and jelly industries.

The blueberry is a North American native fruit that belongs to the Vaccinium genus from the Ericacea family, characterized mainly by a high content of antioxidants such as polyphenols and vitamin C. Scientists reported that fresh blueberries contained 6.3 mg/g of vitamin C.

Vitamin C –an antioxidant that is needed to stop free radicals from doing harm in human bodies. Free radicals form in human bodies from activities that we do everyday like being out in the sun or breathing air with pollution. They promote aging and disease. Blueberries have 38% more free radical fighters or antioxidants than red wine.

Vitamin C is readily oxidized, especially in the presence of metal ions such as copper and iron. Heat and light accelerate the process, while additional factors such as oxygen concentration, pH and water activity strongly influence the rate of the reaction.
Vitamin C in blueberries