title: Polyphenol levels and free radical scavenging activities of four apple cultivars from integrated and organic farming in different italian areas.
abstract: This paper investigates the influence of cultivar (Annurca, Golden Delicious, Red Chief, and Stayman Neepling), rural practice (integrated and organic), and growing region (different Italian regions) on polyphenol composition and antiradical activity of the pulp and skin of apples, as presented to the consumer at the market. Antiradical activity of fruit was strongly related with the total polyphenolic content, determined both by the spectrophotometric Folin-Ciocalteu method ( R (2) = 0.90; P < 0.01) and by HPLC ( R (2) = 0.85; P < 0.01). Considering the edible portion of the fruit, polyphenolics contribute toward explaining approximately 90% of the overall antiradical activity, thus highlighting their important role in human health protection. Therefore, the data indirectly indicated that ascorbic acid and other antiradical molecules differing from polyphenols play a much less important role in explaining the health-protecting properties of apples. Cultivar effect was by far the most important, and Annurca and Golden Delicious were respectively the best and the worst apples from the point of view of the health-protecting attributes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Florence, Via della Lastruccia 3, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Lavinia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lamperi
authors.forename: Ugo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Chiuminatto
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cincinelli
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Galvan
authors.forename: Edgardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Giordani
authors.forename: Luciano
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lepri
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Del Bubba
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods*; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000032:analysis; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000032:analysis*; D058870:Food, Organic / Q000032:analysis*; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry*; D007558:Italy; D027845:Malus / Q000737:chemistry*; D010636:Phenols / Q000032:analysis*; D059808:Polyphenols; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D005419:Flavonoids; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers; D010636:Phenols; D059808:Polyphenols; D001205:Ascorbic Acid