Blackcurrants of three Finnish commercial cultivars ‘Mortti’, ‘Ola’ and
‘Melalahti’ cultivated in southern and northern Finland were compared on
the basis of the content and composition of proanthocyanidins (PAs).
Seventeen B-type PA oligomers (degree of polymerization 2-5 and 7) were
detected by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography and
electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Total PAs, dimers, trimers
and tetramers were quantified. Among the three cultivars, ‘Ola’ had the
highest contents of both total PAs and PA oligomers. ‘Melalahti’ was
separated from both ‘Mortti’ and ‘Ola’ by PA profiles in the partial
least squares discriminant analysis model. All three cultivars revealed
distinct responses to latitude and weather conditions. The content of
total PAs showed a positive correlation to latitude in ‘Ola’ and
‘Melalahti’. Among the meteorological variables, high temperature and
radiation correlated negatively with total PAs, while only specific
variables showed a correlation with PA oligomers.</p
