Nutritional value of promising raspberry varieties

Raspberry is a crop, characterized by a valuable chemical composition, which determines the wide spectrum of its utilization not only as a fresh fruit, but also as a plant raw material for the food industry. The purpose of the paper is to make an integrated assessment for the fruit of promising raspberry varieties from genetic pool of FSSI “I.V. Michurin FSC” for nutrient and biologically active substances content and mineral elements. The object of investigation was 18 raspberry fruit varieties. The varieties are promising for cultivation in the Central Black Soil region of Russia. Chemical analyses of fruit were carried out with the use of spectrophotometric, chromatographic (HPLC), atomic absorption methods. As it was found, the significant variation in chemical composition indicators turned to be dependent on varietal features. The raspberry fruit accumulated 2.9–3.9% of dietary fibre, 0.34–1.3% of protein, 13.6–31.1 mg/100g of vitamin C, 0.2–83.6 mg/100g of anthocyanins, 0.14–0.90 mg/100g of niacin, 0.1–0.9 mg/100g of resveratrol, 0.2–3.1 mg/100g of piceid, 118.8–388.0 mg/100g of potassium, 0.29–0.97 mg/100g of iron. A high level accumulation of ascorbic acid was found in Gerakl, Evrazia, Zhar-ptitsa, Peresvet varieties; anthocyanins–in Evrazia, Gerakl, Polka, Rubinovoe ozherel’e; resveratrol and piceid–in “Zhelty gigant” and “Rubinovoe ozherel’e” varieties. The studied varieties are recommended as edible fresh fruit and for the consumption in the frozen form. Preventive food production is also appropriate.