Determination of sugars and organic acids in diverse carob genotypes using HPLC techniques

Abstract

Carob fruit is widely known for their abundance of health-boosting compounds like polyphenols, ascorbic acid, organic acids, and micronutrients. These compounds offer various benefits, including antioxidative, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, liver-protective, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and heart-protective effects. In this research, High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) methods were employed to assess sugar and organic acid levels in mature fruit pods of three distinct carob genotypes from the Kahramanmaras region in Turkey. The findings revealed that genotype-2 had the highest concentrations of glucose (1301 mg/100g) and fructose (875 mg/100g), genotype-3 exhibited the highest level of xylose (1548 mg/100g), while genotype-1 displayed the highest levels of sucrose (9183 mg/100g) and total sugars (12457 mg/100g). Regarding organic acids, genotype-1 exhibited the highest levels of oxalic acid (17.62 mg/100g), citric acid (612.50 mg/100g), and fumaric acid (8.0 mg/100g), while genotype-3 showed the highest levels of malic acid (234.92 mg/100g) and succinic acid (1089.76 mg/100g); however, genotype-2 had the highest amount of ascorbic acid (8.17 mg/100g). In conclusion, genotype-1 demonstrated the most favorable performance in terms of having the highest levels of total sugar and organic acids compared to the other two genotypes.