Antioxidant Capacity and Phenolics Profile of Portuguese Traditional Cultivars of Apples and Pears and Their By-Products ; On the Way to Newer Applications

Funding Information: This research was funded by the clabel+ project: Innovative Natural, Nutritious and Consumer Oriented “Clean Label” Foods with the reference POCI-01-0247-FEDER-046080 financed by the Competitiveness and Internationalization Thematic Operational Programme (PO CI), under the COMPETE2020, PORTUGAL2020 Partnership Agreement, through the co-financing of European Regional Development Fund (FEDER). J.D. Teixeira is grateful for his fellowship in the frame of clabel+ project. The work was supported by UIDB/00211/2020, LA/P/0045/2020 (ALiCE), UIDB/00511/2020 and UIDP/00511/2020 (LEPABE), UIDB/04551/2020 (GREEN-IT—Bioresources for Sustainability) funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES, UIDB/04469/2020 (CEB) and by LA/P/0029/2020 (LABBELS), Centre of Chemistry (UID/QUI/0686/2020) and project BioTecNorte (operation NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004), supported by the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Publisher Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. ; Pears (Pyrus communis L.) and apples (Malus domestica Borkh.) are two of the most popular fruits worldwide. The phenolic compounds they offer are associated with human health benefits due to their antioxidant properties. Since these fruits’ by-products are not yet fully exploited, it is important to characterize them, especially in terms of their antioxidant properties. The aim of this study was to determine the antioxidant properties of old traditional cultivars, six regional pear cultivars and five regional apple cultivars grown in the Alcobaça region (Portugal). Antioxidant capacity assays were used to evaluate the antioxidant properties. Generally, the antioxidant capacity, total phenolics content (TPC), and total flavonoids content (TFC) of fruit byproducts (both seeds and peels) were higher than the corresponding mesocarp, indicating their potential as sources of beneficial antioxidant compounds. Moreover, a UHPLC-ToF-MS method ...