The important health benefits of pomegranate fruit is Attributable to its
high concentration of polyphenolic compounds. This compounds concentration
is likely to be affected by cultivar, environment and development stage of fruits.
In this study,
some physic-chemical characteristics along with minerals (K,
Ca, Mg, and Fe) were determined in fruit during maturation stages every 20
day from 30 to 150 day-old fruit of two pomegranate accessions ‘Helo
Erbin’(AE) and ‘Lafan Al-Hesn’ (AH) grown in Syria. The highest percentage
of aril and juice and lowest percentage of peel were observed in 150-day-old
fruit.
Four varieties of grape raisins where made in traditional way and
investigated for their chemical composition, mineral elements and total
antioxidanst capacity. Results reveals that there were significant differences in
the average percentage of m
oisture and carbohydrate between varieties,
whereas the protein, fat and ashes percentages were not significant. Results of
minerals analysis showed that blue raisins had the highest amount of Calcium,
phosphorous and potassium with a level of 66 mg, 193 mg and 989 mg in 100 g
raisins respectively. In addition, the total polyphenol contents by Folin-
Ciocalteau assay were higher in blue (257 mg) and red raisins (213mg) when
compared to the others varieties and vitamin C was 45mg/100g and 34 mg/100g
in blue and red raisins respectively. The antioxidant activity of raisins was
assessed by the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay.
The amount of raisins needed to scavenge 50% of DPPH radical (EC50) was
similar for all varieties ranging from about 4.18 mg to 6.41 mg. Total
antioxidants capacity were in descending order blue >red > white > green
raisins. Therefore, the consumption of raisins is considered to contribute the
intake of antioxidants and minerals in Syrian diet .
