By Zhang Nannan
Kiwifruit, with its high nutritional quality, good taste and aromatic scent, has an important commercial value. In recent years, the demand for fruit quality has been increased gradually, and studies have shown that fruit nutritional value is critical to fruit quality.
To investigate the nutritional profile of each kiwifruit variety, researchers from the Wuhan Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) selected 14 kiwifruit varieties, covering red-fleshed, green-fleshed and yellow-fleshed kiwifruits wildly cultivated in China. They detected and compared the pectin, moisture, chlorophyll, carotenoid, flavonoid, energy, carbohydrates, protein, lipid, dietary fiber, soluble sugar, organic acid, vitamin and aroma compound contents.
The physical and chemical properties, nutritional properties and aroma varied in different flesh color and species groups. The green-fleshed kiwifruits showed the highest content of pectin compared with the red- and yellow-fleshed kiwifruits. The green-fleshed kiwifruits, such as A. eriantha had the highest chlorophyll a content, chlorophyll b content and total carotenoid content. The green- and yellow-fleshed kiwifruits with low energy and carbohydrates were suitable for people with "three highs" and poor stomachs.
Click here to see more...