EFFECT OF SULFURIZATION AND PROCESS CONDITIONS ON POLYPHENOL CONTENT OF ANATOLIAN APRICOTS (PRUNUS ARMENIACA) TUNCAY KAN 1,3 and SAIM ZEKI BOSTAN 2 1 Faculty of Agriculture Malatya, Inonu University, 44280, TR, Turkey 2 Faculty of Agriculture, Ordu University, Ordu, TR, Turkey 3 Corresponding author. TEL: 904223410756; FAX: 904223410756; EMAIL: kantunca@gmail.com Received for Publication January 17, 2011 Accepted for Publication October 1, 2011 doi:10.1111/j.1745-4549.2011.00636.x ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to evaluate the content of phenolics such as quercetin, chlo- rogenic acid, caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid, ferrulic acid, as well as other catechin, epi- catechin and quercetin-3-rutinoside (rutin). Phenolic compounds were measured by spectrophotometric methods. Among the researched apricots, Organically grown cultivar contained the highest amounts of all groups of phenolics, followed by con- ventional apricots. The quantity of polyphenols depended on sulfurization was investigated. It is found that the region of cultivation did not have remarkable influ- ence on polyphenol, whereas the cultivation type has the main effect. Significant dif- ferences were observed in phenolic mass fraction among different cultivars and growing seasons (P < 0.05), and phenolic compounds were significantly higher in all organics. Examined cultivars possess high antioxidant capacity and reducing power, and all phenolics were highly correlated with RP (R = 0.46 to 0.99). Generally, organically grown fruits are rich sources of phenolics, which show evident antioxi- dant capacity. The high-pressure liquid chromatography, equipped with diode array detector, was used to investigate the polyphenols. We state that the level of all deter- mined phenolics decreased after sulfurization. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Consumption of apricots have been applied to be a practical approach toward the prevention of several degenerative diseases. It is well reported that apricots with dif- ferent cultivars contain phenolics that have been shown to be the main phytochemi- cals present in fruit and that they play important roles in the preservation of several degenerative diseases. Sulfurized apricots have much better hygienic quality, and due to chemical reactions during processing, they become more digestible and have a decreased nutritional value. However, sulfurization may affect the antioxidant status of apricots due to the release of more phenolic compounds and destruction or cre- ation of redox-active metabolites. INTRODUCTION Fresh or dried apricots represent the main sources of antioxi- dants (Arts et al. 2000). Certain polyphenols such as querce- tin, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid, ferrulic acid, as well as other catechin, epicatechin and quercetin-3- rutinoside (rutin) are found in all apricot products, whereas others are specific to particular foods (flavanones in citrus fruit, isoflavones in soya, phloridzin in apples). Apricot varieties include many phenolic compounds present in different concentrations. The hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives identified in apricot are caffeic, p-coumaric and ferrulic acids and their esters (Macheix et al. 1990; Clif- ford 2000; Waterhouse and Laurie 2006). Other phenolic compounds determined in apricots are neochlorogenic acid (3-caffeoylquinic acid) (+)-catechin, and (-)-epicatechin (Dao and Friedman 1992; Goldberg et al. 1998) but chloro- genic acid (5-caffeoylquinic acid) is the leading ester in Journal of Food Processing and Preservation ISSN 1745-4549 1 Journal of Food Processing and Preservation •• (2012) ••–•• © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.