Potential of low-chill requiring and pink-fleshed apple cultivars for cloudy juice production

Abstract

Low-chill requiring (LCR) apple cultivars provide the South African apple juice industry the opportunity to mitigate the effects of climate change on production. The juicing potential (yield and physicochemical properties) of six LCR and two pink-fleshed (PF) apple cultivars, harvested in 2018, were compared to that of commercial cultivars. In 2019, the phenolic and sensory profiles of the juice of the three most promising LCR cultivars were also compared to that of the two PF and commercial cultivars. LCR and PF cultivars had similar or lower juice yields and juice with lower sugar content than the commercial cultivars. LCR cultivars produced juice containing less polyphenols than PF cultivars (p < 0.05), but similar or higher amounts than commercial cultivars. Of the PF cultivars, KAZ 95−91 juice had higher p-coumaroylquinic acid, flavan-3-ol and procyanidin concentrations, and TC3 juice had the higher chlorogenic acid concentration (p < 0.05), but similar flavonol and anthocyanin concentrations. The ‘litchi/pear’ and ‘strawberry’ aroma notes of Afri Glo (LCR) and TC3 (PF), respectively, could offer the consumer apple juice with new aroma profiles. The less sweet juice of LCR and PF cultivars could furthermore cater for health-conscious consumers.