Abstract
The aims of this study were to find out if organic apple juice (AJ) contained higher contents of polyphenols or patulin compared to conventional AJ, and if higher storage temperature before processing increases patulin content in juice. AJ was pressed from Estonian, Danish and Norwegian apples. Additionally, three cultivars from Estonian organic and conventional orchards were stored at 3±2 °C and 9±2 °C before processing. Patulin, polyphenol content and antioxidant capacity were determined in pasteurized juices. In 2015, 33% of conventional (n=6) and 46% of organic (n=11) juices contained patulin; two of the organic juices above the legal limit (191 and 64µg l-1). In 2016, none of the AJs contained patulin. Patulin occurrence was more affected by weather conditions two weeks before harvest than by cultivation system and apple storage temperature. Polyphenol content was higher in organic than in conventional juices and was reduced at higher apple storage temperature.
Highlights
It is widely known that consuming apple and its products has a beneficial health effect – besides their content of vitamins and minerals, they are considered to be a good source of polyphenols with antioxidant activity that scavenge and neutralize free radicals, which in turn play a role in the onset of cardiovascular diseases and cancers
Higher than optimal storage temperature did not a have uniform effect on all cultivars. Juices pressed from both organic and conventional ‘Talvenauding’ stored at 9±2 °C had patulin contamination (28 and 5 μg l-1 respectively), but juice pressed from the same apples stored at 3±2 °C did not have a patulin content above the quantification limit (Table 1)
Juice from organic ‘Krameri tuviõun’ apples stored at 9±2 °C had patulin content of 8 μg l-1, while the juice pressed from apples stored at 3±2 °C did not contain patulin
Summary
It is widely known that consuming apple and its products has a beneficial health effect – besides their content of vitamins and minerals, they are considered to be a good source of polyphenols with antioxidant activity that scavenge and neutralize free radicals, which in turn play a role in the onset of cardiovascular diseases and cancers (van der Sluis et al 2002, Biedrzycka and Amarowicz 2008). The worldwide contamination of foods and feeds with mycotoxins such as patulin originating from infected apples is a significant problem. Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of fungi that account for huge annual losses worldwide in human health, animal health and condemned agricultural products (Zain 2011). Several species of genera Fusarium, Aspergillus, Penicillium and Alternaria can synthesize mycotoxins. These compounds are hazardous to animal and human health as they can be lethal, carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic, immunosuppressant, or may mimic estrogens (Da Cruz Cabral et al 2013). A mycotoxin found especially in apples and their processed products like juice and puree, is called patulin and it is mainly produced by Penicillium expansum Link – a fungus that causes blue mould rot. The European Commission (EC 2006) set the maximum toxicologically acceptable level for patulin in apple juice to 50 μg l-1
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