Comparative Study of Two Pear (Pyrus communis L.) Cultivars in Terms of Nutritional Composition

Abstract

Nutritional composition of two pear cultivars (Pyrus communis) was analyzed for sugar composition, amino acid and fatty acid profile by using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) equipped with RI and ultra violet detectors and GC equipped with FID detector. Proximate composition was determined by using the standard methods of AOAC (2000). The results revealed that the Shughri contain 83.1% moisture content, 13.58% TSS, 3.94% ash content, 11.72% crude protein, 9.47% crude fiber, 3.39% lipids and 96.46% carbohydrates, while Physhu contains less amounts of moisture, TSS, ash, protein, fiber, lipids and carbohydrates (54.51, 13.71, 1.86, 8.81, 7.83, 2.14 and 87.67% respectively). The results further revealed that the fructose was the major sugar in both pear cultivars, followed by glucose and sucrose. Linoleic acid (C18:2), palmatic acid (C16:0) oleic acid (C18:1) and ?-linoleic acid (C18:3) were most abundant fatty acids found in both cultivars. Among essential amino acids leucine, lysine and isoleucine are most prominent in both cultivars while among non-essential amino acids aspartic acid and glutamine are abundant. Anti-nutritional content analysis revealed that hydrocyanic, nitrate, oxalate and phytate were in lower amounts than the reference toxic standards. Thus, both pear cultivars have potential nutraceutical uses. The findings of this investigation provide important information on how to make the best use of pear cultivars studied for different uses, which is meaningful for both processing practices and technological research.

Keywords: Comparative study, Nutritional composition, Pyrus communis, Anti-nutritive compounds