Quantitative determination of anthocyanins in three sweet cherry varieties using diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy

The determination of sweet cherry anthocyanins in crude material of three varieties using diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) and the curve-fitting deconvolution method is described. A linear relationship between the sweet anthocyanins content and the peak area at 1640–1630 cm−1 was established with a high correlation coefficient (0.990). The deconvolution analysis using the curve-fitting method allowed the elimination of spectral interferences from other cell wall components. The proposed methodology was compared with a reference UV–vis spectrophotometric method and found equivalent in reproducibility and accuracy (F-test, t-test). The proposed method is simple, rapid, non-destructive for the analytical samples and could be applicable to any cherries.