Primary metabolites in fruit of currants from Western Serbia

Abstract

The objective of this study was to identify and quantify primary metabolites in berries of six black (‘Ben Lomond’, ‘Ben Sarek’, ‘Titania’, ‘Čačanska Crna’, ‘Tisel’, and ‘Tiben’), one red (‘Jonkheer van Tets’) and two white currant cultivars (‘Weisse аus Juteborg’ and ‘Primus’). High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used for the identification of sugars (glucose, fructose, sucrose) and organic acids (citric, malic, quinic, shikimic and fumaric acid). Significant differences in the tested parameters were detected among the cultivars. Fructose was the dominant sugar, followed by glucose and sucrose in all tested cultivars. ‘Titania’ was the cultivar with the highest content of all individual and total sugars, while the cultivars ‘Ben Sarek’, ‘Tisel’, and ‘Tiben’ had a low content of sugars.‘Ben Lomond’ was the cultivar with the highest content of all examined acids and total acids, except shikimic. The best sugar and acid ratio was recorded in the berries of ʽTitaniaʼ and ʽČačanska Crnaʼ. Wide variations in major taste compounds of the target analytes examined were observed, and thus, it is clear that the differences in currant cultivars play an important role in determining fruit composition. The most suitable currant cultivars for grown in Western Serbia proved to be ‘Titaniaʼ and ʽČačanska Crnaʼ.