Quality of prunes obtained from new plum cultivars created in Čaèak

Abstract

The paper presents the most significant fresh fruit characteristics in new plum cultivars created at the Fruit Research Institute in Èaèak, Serbia, intended for the production of prunes ('Nada', 'Krina', and 'Mildora', and 'Èaèanska Rodna' as the standard cultivar). Drying was performed using fruits of optimum ripeness level using the experimental dryer at 90°C air temperature. The tested parameters of prune quality included the sugar content, acid content, and the sugar-acid ratio, as well as the organoleptic characteristics (appearance, flavour, aroma, and consistency). Contents of phenolic components in fruits were also determined, including rutin, neochlorogenic acid, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, protocatechuic acid, gallic acid, and cyanidin. All of the examined cultivars are conducive to prune production, despite the differences in chemical composition, organoleptic evaluation and contents of phenolic compounds. The colour of the prunes ranged from amber ('Mildora' cultivar) to black ('Nada' cultivar), which is interesting from the aspect of different consumers' tastes. The organoleptic evaluation of the prunes ranged from 17.02 ('Krina' cultivar) to 18.88 ('Èaèanska Rodna' cultivar), which is primarily determined by the different values of the sugar-acid ratio and different phenolics contents.