Apple juice evaluation: Qualitative analysis and microsatellite traceability

Qualitative and DNA analysis can be performed by taking a multidisciplinary approach to evaluate apple juices, the relevant values of which are a function of the origin, processing method and cultivar used. In detail, the aims of this study were to characterize apple juices through physiochemical analysis, sensory analysis and DNA analysis to evaluate the efficiency of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers for cultivar identification. Six apple juices made with cv Golden Delicious, cv Granny Smith and a mix of these cultivars from an e-commerce platform (Samples A and B), DISAFA (Samples C and D) and a local farm (Piedmont, Italy) (Samples E and F) were considered. Apple juices A, B, E and F (clarified and pasteurized) can be considered as being of high quality, while Samples C and D were unclarified, unpasteurized and made with apples purchased from a local store. Considering the qualitative analysis, it was observed that the cultivar of apple affected the parameters assessed. In the case of total phenolic compounds, the highest values were observed for juices made only with cv Granny Smith, suggesting how this cultivar contributes to maintaining these nutraceutical compounds more than cv Golden Delicious. Regarding DNA analysis, a limited number of markers, i.e., 4 and 3, respectively, for the apple juices originating from e-commerce and a local farm could successfully produce reproducible amplified fragments. These results can be related to the different procedures used in processing apple juices of different origins.