Comparative content of some phytochemicals in Spanish apples, peaches and pears Shela Gorinstein, 1 * Olga Martin-Belloso, 2 Antonin Lojek, 3 Milan C ˇ ı ´z ˇ, 3 Robert Soliva-Fortuny, 2 Yong-Seo Park, 4 Abraham Caspi, 5 Imanual Libman 5 and Simon Trakhtenberg 5 1 Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products, School of Pharmacy, The Hebrew University—Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel 2 Department of Food Technology, University of Lleida, Lleida, Spain 3 Institute of Biophysics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno, Czech Republic 4 Department of Horticultural Science, Mokpo National University, Republic of Korea 5 Kaplan Medical Center, Rehovot, Israel Abstract: Dietary fibre, total polyphenols and phenolic acids in Spanish apples, peaches and pears were analysed and compared with their total radical-trapping antioxidative potential (TRAP). There were no significant differences in the content of dietary fibre among the studied fruits. The content of total polyphenols was 2.4  0.4, 2.1  0.3 and 6.9  0.7 g kg 1 in peeled fruits and 4.7  0.4, 4.5  0.4 and 11.1  1.2 g kg 1 in their peels for peaches, pears and apples respectively. The contents of dietary fibre, total polyphenols, caffeic, p-coumaric and ferulic acids and the TRAP values were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in peels than in peeled fruits. The contents of all studied compounds and the TRAP values were significantly higher in peeled apples and their peel than in peaches and pears. We observed a strong correlation between the contents of total polyphenols and phenolic acids and the total radical- trapping antioxidative potential in all three fruits. The relatively high content of dietary fibre, the highest contents of total polyphenols, caffeic, p-coumaric and ferulic acids and the highest value of TRAP make apples preferable among the studied fruits for dietary prevention of atherosclerosis and other diseases. # 2002 Society of Chemical Industry Keywords: dietary fibre; polyphenols; phenolic acids; total radical-trapping antioxidative potential INTRODUCTION It is an established fact that phenolic compounds, particularly flavonoids of vegetables and fruits, possess antioxidant properties which are anticarcinogenic, antimicrobial and cardioprotective. 1 Epidemiological and clinical investigations demonstrate significant decreases in morbidity and mortality from cardio- vascular and other diseases among fruit and vegetable consumers. 1,2 The positive influence of these natural products is attributed also to their dietary fibre. 2,3 It was shown that high-dietary-fibre diets are associated with the prevention of the dangerous coronary atherosclerosis and other diseases. 2–4 Therefore high- dietary-fibre formulated food products are currently being developed. 5–8 The objectives of this investigation were (a) to determine the contents of dietary fibre, total poly- phenols and phenolic acids in peeled apples, pears and peaches and their peels and compare these data with the values of total radical-trapping antioxidative potential (TRAP) and (b) to find the most suitable fruit for a disease-preventing diet. MATERIALS AND METHODS All reagents were of analytical grade and were purchased from Sigma Chemical Co, St Louis, MO, USA. Solvents were verified to have negligible TRAP. We have studied peaches (Prunus persica L Batsch var Catherina), pears (Pyrus communis L var Blan- quilla) and apples (Malus domestica Borkh var Golden Delicious) grown in Lleida (Segria ´, Spain). Harvest time was 2 weeks around the following dates for each fruit: peaches, 1–5 August; pears, 20–25 August; apples, 5–10 September. These harvest times are the best for obtaining the respective fruits at optimal maturity in Lleida. At harvest time the values of sugars (Brix, %) were 12.7, 13.8 and 14.7 and acidity (g l 1 ) 7.03, 3.15 and 1.80 for peaches, pears and apples respectively. (Received 4 October 2001; revised version received 13 February 2002; accepted 16 April 2002) * Correspondence to: Shela Gorinstein, Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Natural products, The Hebrew University—Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel E-mail: gorin@cc.huji.ac.il Contract/grant sponsor: Comissionat per a Universitats I Recerca del Departament de la Presidencia de la Generalitat de Catalunya, Spain # 2002 Society of Chemical Industry. J Sci Food Agric 0022–5142/2002/$30.00 1166 Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture J Sci Food Agric 82:1166–1170 (online: 2002) DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.1178