POLYPHENOL CONTENT IN PEAR, PEACH AND APRICOT PUREES AND NECTARS

摘要

Polyphenol confenf in fruit and fruit products is nowadays of special interest because of the antioxidant action exerted by these compounds and of the increasing attention paid to the health-related aspects of foods. On account of the scarcity of literature data, the objective of this study was to investigate into the content of total and condensed polyphenols in purees and nectars made from domestic typical fruit (pear, peach and apricot). A HPLC method was developed to determine the content in individual polyphenols. Among the purees examined, apricot purees show a higher polyphenol content than those from pears and peaches. Pear purees showed the presence of arbutin, chlo-rogenic acid, epicatechin, rutin, catechin, p-cumaric acid and procyanidinB2. Peach purees were found to contain chlorogenic acid, rutin, catechin and hypemside. Apricot purees were characterised by the presence of chlorogenic acid, epicatechin, rutin, catechin and procyanidin 82. The necfars analysed showed the presence of the same polyphenols as those found in purees but in lower although still significant amounts.