Objective: This study was carried out to obtain data about the sugar-, acid- and phenol content of apple cultivars from organic and integrated fruit cultivation, with reference to their role in human health and especially for diet recommendations.
Setting: Styria (Austria) and Slovenia.
Interventions: HPLC, Spectral Photometry, organoleptic and olfactory tests.
Results: The total sugar content of most cultivars from integrated cultivation ranged between 115 and 160 g/kg. Some cultivars from organic growing reached higher values. The acid content of both cultivar types was similar. The phenol content in organically grown cultivars was much higher than that of the ones from integrated cultivation.
Conclusion: Knowledge of the sugar content is very important for diabetic patients, owing to the assumption of general diet recommendations that 100 g fruit contain 12 g carbohydrates. This applies to most well-known cultivars like Golden Delicious or Gala, but not to most of the regional cultivars. For diabetics, it is necessary to know the carbohydrate content of food precisely, in order to adapt the amount of insulin to the ingestion. So, it is helpful to know the sugar content of each regional cultivar. Moreover, very high levels of phenolic compound in organically grown cultivars, and with it its importance for human health leads to the recommendation to eat regional fruits from organic fruit growing instead of those grown under integrated cultivation.
Published online 3 May 2006.