Determination of Selected Beneficial Substances in Peach Fruits

Peaches (Prunus persica L.) are a popular and sought-after dessert fruit. This is mainly due to their flavour, aroma, attractive appearance, and high content of substances that play an important role in human nutrition. The present study was carried out to determine some important analytical properties (sugars/sucrose, glucose, fructose and sorbitol), total acid, total phenolics, flavonoids, antioxidant capacity, carotenoids and anthocyanins of 34 selected peach varieties. The analyses are also complemented by colorimetric measurements of peach skin colour using CIELAB and other chromatic parameters. The results show, for example, that all peach varieties are good sources of phenolic compounds (9.43-577 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE).100 g(-1)), flavonoids (1.12-95.1 mg catechin equivalent (CAE).100 g(-1)), and antioxidant capacity (136-462 mg Trolox equivalent (TE).100 g(-1)).