The content of organic acids and carotenoids in Sorbus fruits

Abstract

Organic acids and carotenoids are important biologically active compounds that largely determine the pharmacological value of rowan fruits. In medicine, mountain ashberry is used as a multivitamin, diuretic, tonic. Its fruits are standardized according to the content of organic acids. In this work, the content of the organic acids sum and carotenoids in the fruits of Sorbus aucuparia and the varieties 'Burka', 'Granatnaya', 'Alaya Krupnaya' and 'Titan' from the collection of the Botanical Garden-Institute of Volga State University of Technology (Yoshkar-Ola, Mary El Republic) was studied. The moisture content in the fruits of all studied rowans varied from 0.49 to 0.60%, which corresponded to the permissible value of the pharmacopoeia. The amount of organic acids varied from 3.06 to 3.93%. In the fruits of the varieties 'Titan' and 'Burka' the greatest amount of the organic acids was found, slightly less was in the variety 'Granatnaya', but the difference is insignificant. The low content of the studied compounds was determined in Sorbus aucuparia and 'Alaya Krupnaya', while the value of this variety did not meet the requirements of the pharmacopoeia article. The content of carotenoids in rowan fruits varied from 3.09 to 5.60 mg%. In terms of the number of these compounds, the fruits of the varieties 'Titan' and 'Alaya Krupnaya' were in the lead. The smallest amount of carotenoids was found in the fruits of Sorbus aucuparia and 'Granatnaya'. The most promising for obtaining biologically active compounds is the variety 'Titan'.