On adulteration of fruit and berry raw materials

Absztrakt

We studied organoleptic, physical, chemical parameters, and nutrient composition of strawberry, raspberry, and melon powders and identified their profile of organic acids and mineral composition produced by a Russian company. It was found that the color and flavor ranges of the studied materials were uncharacteristic of the initial raw materials. The actual protein and lipids levels did not correspond to the ones declared by the manufacturer in the labeling, and were uncharacteristic of the processed raw materials. In all powder samples the sugars were represented by sucrose in 80-97%. This high level of sucrose content indicated the addition of 40.4-52.3% white sugar. The amount and ratio of organic acids did not correspond to the profile of natural raw materials. Thus, the strawberry powder lacked oxalic and tartaric acids, the raspberry raw material lacked malic acid, and the melon material – citric acid. The strawberry powder above the detection limit did not contain such essential macro- and microelements as Ca, Mg, B, Co, the amount of Si, Fe, K was at trace level. The raspberry powder was devoid of detectable amount of Co and K, and B, Ca, Cu, Mg, Mn, Si important for plant life were present in residual amounts. The “obligatory” amount of K, Fe, Ca, Co, Cu, Mg, Mn were absent in the melon powder, which did not correspond to the fundamental laws of the plant physiology. The results obtained allowed to conclude about misinformation and qualitative adulteration of the materials. Currently, there are practically no studies aimed at determining quality and chemical composition of fruit and berry powders in order to identify adulteration, though this type of survey would be great practical interest both for producers and consumers.