The analysis of approaches to assessing the sugar content of fruit and vegetable products

Abstract

The relevance of this study is due to the growing interest of modern consumers in healthy eating, where fruit and vegetables play an important role, which should not only be aesthetically pleasing but also have high taste potential. The purpose of the article is to analyse and compare different approaches to assessing the sugar content of fruit and vegetable products, their effectiveness, and to substantiate areas for improvement. For this purpose, the author analysed the literature and regulatory and technical documents. Traditional methods for determining the sugar content are considered: total content, soluble solids content, and total soluble solids content. It has been established that the soluble solids content and the total soluble solids content of fruits cannot be equated and should be adjusted using an appropriate coefficient based on the percentage of sugars. It has been shown that the content of total soluble substances does not always correctly reflect the sugar content and does not correlate with the taste of sweetness of fruit and vegetables. The necessity of taking into account acidity, which significantly affects the perception of sweet taste, has been established. High acidity can inhibit the sweet taste of fruit and vegetables, even with a very high sugar content. It is proposed to use the ratio of sugar content to titratable acidity for a comprehensive assessment of the sugar content and taste of products. The necessity of using the BrimA and sweetness indices, which combine the indicators of sugars and acidity, as well as reflect the contribution of a single carbohydrate to the total sugar content of the product, is substantiated. These indices allow for a comprehensive assessment of sugar content and predict the sensory perception of fruit and vegetable raw materials. The absence of a single standardised approach and the need for comparative analysis to select optimal methods for measuring the sugar content of fruit and vegetable products are noted, so there is an urgent need to standardise such approaches to improve data comparison. The results of the article can be used to select the most informative methods of sugar content analysis. This will optimise quality control procedures and standardisation of measurements in the food industry