Physicochemical, Spectroscopic and Chromatographic Analyses in Combination with Chemometrics for the Discrimination of Four Sweet Cherry Cultivars Grown in Northern Greece.

Spyridon Papapetros,Anastasia Badeka,Chara Papastephanou,Ioanna Kosma,Artemis Louppis,Stavros Kontakos,Michael G Kontominas

doi:10.3390/foods8100442

Spyridon Papapetros, Anastasia Badeka + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/foods8100442

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Abstract

A total of 56 sweet cherry samples belonging to four cultivars (Ferrovia, Canada Giant, Lapins, and Germersdorfer) grown in northern Greece were characterized and differentiated according to botanical origin. For the above purpose, the following parameters were determined: conventional quality parameters (titratable acidity (TA), pH, total soluble solids (TSS), total phenolic content (TPC), mechanical properties and sensory evaluation, sugars by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), volatile compounds by GC/MS, and minerals by ICP-OES. Statistical treatment of the data was carried out using Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). The results showed that the combination of volatile compounds and conventional quality parameters provided a correct classification rate of 84.1%, the combination of minerals and conventional quality parameters 86.4%, and the combination of minerals, conventional quality parameters and sugars provided the highest correct classification rate of 88.6%. When the above four cherry cultivars were combined with previously studied Kordia, Regina, Skeena and Mpakirtzeika cultivars, collected from the same regions during the same seasons, the respective values for the differentiation of all eight cultivars were: 85.5% for the combination of conventional quality parameters, volatiles and minerals; and 91.3% for the combination of conventional quality parameters, volatiles, minerals, and sugars.

Highlights

Cherries have been cultivated for thousands of years in Europe, as pits have been recovered from cave dwellings dating back to 4000–5000 B.C
Sweet cherries are a natural source of useful ingredients such as phenolic compounds functioning as natural antioxidants, which reduce the risk of degenerative diseases caused by oxidative stress; they are a source of minerals, sugars, and organic acids [3,4,5]
Conventional quality parameters total soluble solids (TSS), pH, titratable acidity (TA), and mechanical properties were determined according to the methods described by Papapetros et al [17]

Summary

Introduction

Cherries have been cultivated for thousands of years in Europe, as pits have been recovered from cave dwellings dating back to 4000–5000 B.C. Today, cherry cultivation is very popular in Greece [1]. Sweet cherries (Prunus avium L.) are widely accepted for their quality characteristics, such as skin color, texture, sugar and organic acid content, and volatile compound composition [2]. Sweet cherries are a natural source of useful ingredients such as phenolic compounds functioning as natural antioxidants, which reduce the risk of degenerative diseases caused by oxidative stress; they are a source of minerals, sugars, and organic acids [3,4,5]. Sugars are one of the main ingredients of sweet cherries, which, along with organic acids, lead to the unique balance of fruit flavor. The sugar content can be as high as one-quarter of the total weight

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