APPLICATION OF SENSORY, NUTRACEUTICAL AND GENETIC TECHNIQUES TO CREATE A QUALITY PROFILE OF ANCIENT APPLE CULTIVARS

With the diffusion of commercial apple varieties since the second half of the last century, hundreds of different local cultivars rapidly disappeared from orchards in Italy, and the particular quality attributes of these fruits are still at risk of being lost today. The aim of this research was to use sensory,nutritional and genetic techniques in order to define the overall quality of fruits from ancient apple cultivars grown in Northern Italy. Cluster analysis arranged the 10 genotypes into five groups; in most cases, the analyzed cultivars demonstrated higher sensory and nutritional qualities than the control (Golden Delicious cv). The cultivars showed higher values of total polyphenolic compounds and a stronger antioxidant activity.The vitamin C content also differed from the control. The sensory analysis, performed by the Fruit Tasters Italian Organization, was an effective characterization tool and genetic analysis further helped to characterize the identity of these interesting cultivars.