Abstract
Peaches (Prunus persica L.) are a popular and sought-after dessert fruit. This is mainly due to their flavour, aroma, attractive appearance, and high content of substances that play an important role in human nutrition. The present study was carried out to determine some important analytical properties (sugars/sucrose, glucose, fructose and sorbitol), total acid, total phenolics, flavonoids, antioxidant capacity, carotenoids and anthocyanins of 34 selected peach varieties. The analyses are also complemented by colorimetric measurements of peach skin colour using CIELAB and other chromatic parameters. The results show, for example, that all peach varieties are good sources of phenolic compounds (9.43–577 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE).100 g−1), flavonoids (1.12–95.1 mg catechin equivalent (CAE).100 g−1), and antioxidant capacity (136–462 mg Trolox equivalent (TE).100 g−1).
Highlights
There are a great variety of peach trees (Prunus persica L.), in terms of the length of ripening period, and in terms of the pomological characteristics of the fruit, where we can distinguish yellow-fleshed, white-fleshed, red-fleshed, fully separable from the stone or clings, flat-shaped varieties, referred to as Peento, that are very popular in southern Italy and Asia
The highest acid content was recorded in the fruit of the varieties ‘Benedicte’
Peach fruits have an important specific nutritional status among stone fruits. This means that peaches can serve as a source of sugars, mainly sucrose, as well as phenolics, carotenoids, and anthocyanins, and can provide valuable antioxidants
Summary
There are a great variety of peach trees (Prunus persica L.), in terms of the length of ripening period, and in terms of the pomological characteristics of the fruit, where we can distinguish yellow-fleshed, white-fleshed, red-fleshed, fully separable from the stone or clings, flat-shaped varieties, referred to as Peento, that are very popular in southern Italy and Asia. Peaches are a rich source of dietary fibre (1.5 g.100 g−1 ) and provitamin A [1] This fruit is considerably rich in antioxidants and is an important source of vitamins A, B, and C, carotenoids and phenolic compounds. Polyphenols represent the majority of antioxidants present in the diet and their daily intake should exceed 1 g/day, which is much higher than that of all other classes of phytochemicals and known dietary antioxidants [6]. They are low in fat and contain a lot of water, approximately 89 g per 100 g of fruit [7,8]. Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
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