Qualities of Native Apple Cultivar Juices Characteristic of Central Europe

Abstract

During the last century due to the changes in landscape management, in country people’s lives and with intensive fruit-growing the native cultivars of apple fruit trees have been gradually disappearing. The aim of the study was to compare the juices made of native apple cider cultivars. The cultivars-‘Boikovo’, ‘Jadernicka moravska’, ‘Kardinal zihany’, ‘Panenske ceske’, ‘Parmena zlata zimni’, ‘Strymka’ growing in the locality of the Litencicke Hills in the eastern part of the Czech Republic were selected. For comparison, the fruits of commercial ‘Idared’ cultivar were also included. The chemical composition, antioxidant capacity, phenols, flavonoids and ascorbic acid content and the influence of juices on scavenging activity of nitric oxide and hydroxyl radical were measured. The mutual ratio of examined properties which were found, provide information about qualities and possibilities of use of native cultivars. High antioxidant properties characterize the juice of native apple cultivars. In particular, the ‘Strymka’ cultivar contained 2,637.34 mg of AAE (ascorbic acid equivalent) per litre in case of antioxidant capacity. In the juice of this cultivar the value of 144.05 mg of ascorbic acid per litre was recorded. As regards the ‘Panenske ceske’ cultivar, antioxidant capacity was 2,548.38 mg of AAE l-1 and in relation to ascorbic acid, the value was 145.35 mg l-1. Similarly, high values were observed in both cultivars concerning the scavenging effect of apple juices on hydroxyl radical and nitric oxide (the ‘Strymka’ cultivar 16.38% and 19.26%, the ‘Panenske ceske’ cultivar 16.31% and 18.60%).