Physico-Chemical and Sensorial Properties of a New Beverages Obtained from Wild Mountain Cranberry (VacciniumVitis-Idaea)

This study aimed to characterize a new product obtained from wild mountain cranberry, namely mountain cranberry cider, in terms of physico-chemical properties, antioxidant activity, polyphenols content, mineral elements and sensory acceptability and the results obtained were compared with those of mountain cranberry juice. The characterization of these products gives the opportunity to valorization the precious bioactive compounds from mountain cranberries in all the seasons. HPLC results of the mountain cranberry cider show a higher content of chlorogenic (25.11 mg/100 mL) and gallic (16.04 mg/100 mL) acids than cranberry juice which has lower values (10.21 mg/100 mL chlorogenic and 7.16 mg/100 mL gallic acids). Sensorial analyses results of the both products indicated that the characteristics of the mountain cranberry cider have a higher score for the most of sensory characteristics than the juice, except for the color. Statistical analysis of Unpaired Student-T test was used to determine if there are significant differences between the obtained data for the two products; a significant difference at a level of p[0.001 was emphasis for color parameters, concentration of soluble substances, turbidity and a lower difference (p[0.01) was recorded for radical scavenging effect.

Effect of Berries Extracts on the Oxidative Stability of Silybum marianum Oil and its 20% Oil-in-water Emulsion

The effect of Vaccinium vitis-idaea (mountain cranberry) and Vaccinium myrtilus (bilberry) fruits extracts on the stability of Silybum marianum oil and its 20% oil-in-water emulsion under ambient storage were investigated. The oxidation process of oil and emulsions was followed by measuring the peroxide value (PV), conjugated dienes (CD), conjugated trienes (CT) and p-anisidine value (p-AV).

Breeding-season frugivory by Harris' sparrows (Zonotrichia querula) and white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) in a low-arctic ecosystem

We studied breeding-season frugivory by Harris' sparrows (Zonotrichia querula) and white-crowned sparrows (Z. leucophrys) in the forest–tundra ecotone of the Northwest Territories during a 3-year period. Density of fruits produced during previous summers and preserved beneath the snow averaged between 83 and 94/m2 during June. Mass of alpine bearberry (Arctostaphylos alpina) fruits collected during June was significantly greater than that of crowberry (Empetrum nigrum) or mountain cranberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea), while the relative sugar content of mountain cranberry fruits in June was greater than that of alpine bearberry or crowberry fruits. The protein content of all fruits was relatively low (≤ 3.1%). Harris' and white-crowned sparrows maintained body mass and fat condition while feeding heavily on fruits during the early breeding season and shifted to arthropods when feeding nestlings. The results of our study, plus the widespread distribution of arctic and subarctic subshrubs that produce fleshy fruits consumed by other species, particularly ptarmigan (Lagopus spp.) and shorebirds, suggest that community-wide studies are needed to evaluate the importance of over-winter and late-summer fruits in the diets of terrestrial arctic and subarctic birds.