Anthocyanin determination in blueberry extracts from various cultivars and their antiproliferative and apoptotic properties in B16-F10 metastatic murine melanoma cells

A crude methanolic extract was obtained from fresh blueberries of each seven cultivars tested. The crude extract was then purified over an Amberlite XAD-7 resin and a Sephadex LH-20 column, in order to obtain the anthocyanin rich fraction (ARF). High performance liquid chromatography followed by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS) was used to identify and quantify individual anthocyanins. The richest anthocyanin fraction obtained from cultivar Torro (ARF-T) was used to evaluate the antiproliferative and apoptotic properties in B16-F10 metastatic murine melanoma cells. ARF-T showed an inhibition effect on B16-F10 cell proliferation and stimulated apoptosis (TUNEL).