Soluble solids, acidity, phenolic content and antioxidant capacity of fruits and berries cultivated in Serbia

Abstract

Introduction. Cacak is the large fruit production region in Serbia; it presents an enormous diversity represented by different fruit species, highlighting apricot and small fruits. The objective of this work was to investigate and compare the main temperate fruit and berry quality attributes in eight species and their cultivars grown under similar environmental conditions. Materials and methods. The species evaluated were blackberry, woodland and domesticated strawberry, red and white currant, jostaberry (Ribes nigrum × Ribes uva-crispa ), gooseberry and apricot. Standard laboratory procedures and methods were used to determine fruit or berry weight, soluble solids content (SSC), acidity (TA) and contents of bioactive compounds. Results and discussion . Significant and strong differences among species were detected for all properties evaluated, especially for fruit or berry weight. The fruits of apricot contained the highest soluble solids content (15.28 ° Brix) and ripening index (RI) value (22.49), whereas blackberry is a very rich source of acidity (1.47%), antioxidant power [161.88 mg AA g-1 dry weight (DW)], total phenolics (110.07 mg GAE g-1 DW) and total flavonoids (51.55 mg RUE g-1 DW). A strong relationship between some quality attributes was detected. Also, the cultivar per se (genotype) behaved as the most influencing factor determining fruit and/or berry chemical composition. Conclusion. Results of our work confirmed that fruits or berries evaluated are rich in primary and secondary metabolites. They showed desirable characteristics for the fresh consumption, while the most of them had high contents of natural antioxidants and may be recommended as a good raw material for the food industry.