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Sugar Profile of Kernels as a Marker of Origin and Ripening Time of Peach (Prunus persicae L.)

Plant Foods for Human Nutrition volume 70, pages 433–440 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

Large amounts of fruit seeds, especially peach, are discarded annually in juice or conserve producing industries which is a potential waste of valuable resource and serious disposal problem. Regarding the fact that peach seeds can be obtained as a byproduct from processing companies their exploitation should be greater and, consequently more information of cultivars’ kernels and their composition is required. A total of 25 samples of kernels from various peach germplasm (including commercial cultivars, perspective hybrids and vineyard peach accessions) differing in origin and ripening time were characterized by evaluation of their sugar composition. Twenty characteristic carbohydrates and sugar alcohols were determined and quantified using high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC/PAD). Sucrose, glucose and fructose are the most important sugars in peach kernels similar to other representatives of the Rosaceae family. Also, high amounts of sugars in seeds of promising hybrids implies that through conventional breeding programs peach kernels with high sugar content can be obtained. In addition, by the means of several pattern recognition methods the variables that discriminate peach kernels arising from diverse germplasm and different stage of maturity were identified and successful models for further prediction were developed. Sugars such as ribose, trehalose, arabinose, galactitol, fructose, maltose, sorbitol, sucrose, iso-maltotriose were marked as most important for such discrimination.

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Acknowledgments

This work has been supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Serbia, Grants 172017 and TR 31063. The authors acknowledge support of the Center of Excellence for Molecular Food Sciences, University of Belgrade - Faculty of Chemistry. Also, the authors wish to thank Mr. Tomislav Tosti for valuable assistance in sugar analysis.

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Affiliations

  1. Institute for Technology of Nuclear and other Mineral Raw Materials, Bulevar Franš d’Eperea 86, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia

    Marija Stanojević

  2. University of Belgrade, Faculty of Chemistry, P.O. Box 51, 11158, Belgrade, Serbia

    Jelena Trifković & Dušanka Milojković-Opsenica

  3. University of Belgrade, Faculty of Agriculture, Nemanjina 6, 11080, Belgrade, Serbia

    Milica Fotirić Akšić, Vera Rakonjac & Dragan Nikolić

  4. Institute of Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy, Njegoševa 12, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia

    Sandra Šegan

Authors
  1. Marija Stanojević
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  2. Jelena Trifković
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  3. Milica Fotirić Akšić
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  4. Vera Rakonjac
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  5. Dragan Nikolić
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  6. Sandra Šegan
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  7. Dušanka Milojković-Opsenica
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Correspondence to Jelena Trifković.

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Stanojević, M., Trifković, J., Akšić, M.F. et al. Sugar Profile of Kernels as a Marker of Origin and Ripening Time of Peach (Prunus persicae L.). Plant Foods Hum Nutr 70, 433–440 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-015-0515-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-015-0515-4

Keywords

  • Peach kernel
  • Sugar composition
  • Anion-exchange chromatography
  • Multivariate analysis