The effect of fruit cultivar/origin and storage time on sorbets quality C  atia Hip  olito a, b , Ros  ario Ramalheira a , Sara Beir ~ ao da Costa c , Margarida Mold ~ ao-Martins b, * a Department Director of Food Quality and Safety, Santini e Estrada da Torre, Mercado de Carcavelos, 2775-687, Carcavelos, Portugal b LEAF e Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda,1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal c PROSENSE - INOVISA, Tapada da Ajuda 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal article info Article history: Received 29 May 2015 Received in revised form 15 November 2015 Accepted 24 December 2015 Available online 29 December 2015 Keywords: Sorbet Fruit Cultivar Origin Storage time abstract Fruit quality is one of the main factors that influence the sorbets’ quality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of two different cultivars of five fruits (mandarin, lemon, melon and mango) or origin (strawberries) on the overall quality of sorbets, right after being produced and after being preserved for 21 days at 18  C. Total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA) and firmness were used to characterize the fruits. Colour, pH, antioxidant capacity (AC) and total phenolic content (TPC), as well as sensory attributes, were evaluated on fruits and respective sorbets. Fruit processing led to a loss of TPC and AC. Nevertheless, no significant changes were observed on sorbets over storage time. In spite of chemical, physical and sensorial differences registered among fruits from different cultivars or origin, the sensory profiles of sorbets from the same pair of studied fruits are very similar. Multivariate analysis clearly shows that the sorbets produced maintain the same sensorial quality regardless of the cultivar or the origin of the fruits. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Sorbets are frozen desserts essentially made of water and sugar, with a fruit content of at least 25%. No fat substances should be added (Goff & Hartel, 2013), or any chemical agent that increases or accelerates the production process. The cultivar, origin and ripeness degree of fruits are the factors that most influence the fruit quality and derivative products, such as sorbets. There are several exam- ples of such influence on pears (Markowski, Zbrzezniak, Mieszczakowska-Frac, Rutkowski, & Popinska, 2012), mandarins (Sim on-Grao et al., 2014), mangos (Ngamchuachit, Sivertsen, Mitcham, & Barrett, 2015) and melons (Botia, Navarro, Cerd a, & Martınez, 2005). The processing of sorbets is characterized by the incorporation of small amounts of air, making it a dispersion of ice crystals randomly distributed in a freeze-concentrated liquid phase (Corvitto, 2005). Small ice crystals are desired to deliver a product with a smooth texture and good palatability (Arellano, Benkhelifa, Flick, & Alvarez, 2012; Corvitto, 2005). Representing approximately 90% of the final product, fruit takes the role of main ingredient, being crucial to ensure the highest quality of this raw material. Its availability depends on the season, thus cultivar/origin used will not always be the same, which may influence the physical, chemical and sensory parameters of sorbets. Likewise, storage conditions of fruits, mainly time and temperature, are very important to achieve high quality sorbets (Corvitto, 2005). At the reception, fruits should be at an ideal ripening stage and must not have any injury. Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is a popular and economically important tropical fruit throughout the world, due to its excellent eating quality (bright colour, sweet taste and luscious flavour) and nutritional composition (vitamins, minerals, fibres, and phyto- chemicals) (Kim, Lounds-Singleton, & Talcott, 2009). Mango is considered to be a source of antioxidants including ascorbic acid (mangos provide about 50% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin C) and carotenoids. The best quality of mango fruits should be achieved with a 50% green and 50% red colouration and its “shoulders” ought to be above the insertion of the stalk region and its “cheeks” rounded. Melon (Cucumis melo L.) is one of the most consumed and appreciated fruits. The quality attributes of melon mainly depend on * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: mmoldao@isa.utl.pt, mmoldao@isa.ulisboa.pt (M. Mold~ ao- Martins). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect LWT - Food Science and Technology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/lwt http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2015.12.054 0023-6438/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. LWT - Food Science and Technology 68 (2016) 462e469