Effect of organic and integrated farming on carotenoid and tocopherol content of apricot fruits

Apricot is among the fruits having special importance from nutritional point of view. The edible part of the fruit accumulate high amounts of biologically active carotenoids other macroand micro-nutrients (Mangels et al., 1993; Kita et al., 2007). Carotenoids and tocopherols, as naturally occurring bioactive nutrients, have received an increasing interest during the last decades. The reactive oxygen speciesscavenging activity is associated with reduced risk of serious diseases including cancer (Keleman et al., 2006; Larsson et al., 2010), cardiovascular disease (Arab and Steck, 2000) and age-related degeneration and disorder caused by deficiency of vital carotenoids and other bio-antioxidants (Bone et al., 2000; Mozaffariech et al., 2003; Frankel and German, 2003; Schneidr, 2005). At post-harvest of plant crops, particularly during processing, carotenoids undergo some chemical alteration, such as isomerisation and oxidation on their molecules (Niizu and Rodriguez-Amaya, 2005). Such a chemical alteration can change, to a considerable extent, their chemical and biological properties (Granado, 1992). Under certain biological conditions all-trans to cis geometrical isomerisation occur not only in processed foods but also in human serum (Molnár, 2009) The organic production of certain horticultural crops is increasing from year to year due to the increasing demand for fertilizerand pesticide-free products. In conventional production fertilizer and pesticide residues threaten the health of the consumers since they increase the risk of serious diseases such as cancer. Due to the increasing level of environmental pollution and food contamination there is a great need to raise the level of endogenous antioxidants such as carotenoids, vitamin C and vitamin E in fruits and vegetables to neutralize the oxidizing effect of many dangerous pollutants. Stracke and co-workers (2009) found slight difference between organically and conventionally produced ‘Golden Delicious’ apple fruits in their polyphenol contents and antioxidant capacities. The authors concluded that the impact of season climate is more effective than the cultivation technology. Carbonaro and Mattera (2001) found significantly higher polyphenol level in organic peaches, and more polyphenol oxidase activity in organic peaches and pears. The objective of the present work was to study the carotenoids and tocopherol composition and content in apricot fruits cultivated under organic farming and integrated conditions, by newly developed HPLC methods.