Amino Acid Profiles in Peach (Prunus persica L.) Fruit

Abstract

Amino acids play an interesting and important role in the metabolism of peaches. The objectives of this study were to investigate and compare amino acid profiles in peaches at harvest for future research about the resistance effects, nutritional value of amino acids in peaches and to produce high-quality peach wine. In the study, 10 peaches and nectarines, including white, yellow and red flesh varieties, were selected for amino acid concentration and composition by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Results showed sugar levels in nectarines were higher than in peaches in this study. High concentrations of total acids were found in “Tropic Prince”, “Yixianhong”, “NJN76” and “Hongrou1”. Malic acids had the highest concentrations, compared toquinic and citric acid concentrations. Total amino acids in yellow and white flesh varieties were over 1100 µg/g FW, while red flesh varieties had total amino acids below 750 µg/g FW. Asn was the highest concentration compared to other amino acids, with the high concentration of Asn in “Tropical Prince’ (3279.15 µg/g FW) and the lowest concentration in “Touxinhong” (559.60 µg/g FW). “Jinxia”, “Yuhua3” and “Chengxiang” had better amino acid scores compared with others, in particularly the lowest value in the red flesh varieties. Finally, according to PCA and the heatmaps, amino acids in “Chengxiang”had evident differences to other varieties, which showed the different amino acid concentrations and composition. Overall, the results of this study highlighted three yellow flesh and one white flesh varieties that had satisfactory concentrations and components of amino acid values. In addition, amino acids were the precursors of aroma compounds, so these differences between varieties werea new way to screen the potential varieties for producing high quality peach wines with the anticipated specific characteristics.

Valorization of Peach By-Products: Utilizing Them as Valuable Resources in a Circular Economy Model

“…As far as carboxylic acids are concerned, malic, quinic, and citric acids dominate in peach pomace, with concentrations noticeably higher compared to those of the peel [12,114,121]. The composition of organic acids in peach pomace presents significant alterations during fruit maturation.…”

“…Peach pomace is a reservoir of sugars, surpassing the sugar content found in the peel fraction. The primary sugar detected in peach pulp is sucrose, while other sugars like fructose, glucose, and sorbitol are present in lower concentrations [12,114,121]. The precise sugar composition plays a pivotal role in determining the sweetness intensity of peach pomace.…”

“…Regarding amino acids, the peach pomace contains asparagine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, proline, and alanine. Additionally, glutamine, serine, and threonine have also been identified in peach pomace [121,123]. The deficiency of amino acids in the diet can lead to reduced protein production and consequent nutritional imbalances.…”

Sensory Determination of Peach and Nectarine Germplasms with Instrumental Analysis

“…The test varieties were 5-year-old mature trees with a Y shape and a row spacing of 3 to 5 m, and conventional cultivation measures were employed. Samples (50 peaches/nectarines) of each variety were randomly collected upon reaching maturity (defined as the disappearance of green coloration on the bottom of the fruit) from the two trees [13,14]. Samples were harvested before 11:00 a.m. A total of 30 fruits of each variety were immediately stored in a freezer (−80 • C) for E-nose and HPLC measurement.…”

Metabolite Profiling Reveals the Effect of Cold Storage on Primary Metabolism in Nectarine Varieties with Contrasting Mealiness

“…However, there still needs to be more information on the Rosaceae family, particularly the genus Prunus [ 23 ]. Therefore, those works have been carried out using mainly peaches and have focused on describing the metabolic differences associated with harvest date [ 1 ], comparison of varieties at harvest [ 24 ], fruit growth and development [ 25 ], fruit ripening after cold storage [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ], and treatments affecting quality traits after cold storage [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. Thus, this work aimed to identify the changes in primary metabolism induced by the effect of cold storage on immature nectarines and the changes associated with the ripening process on shelf life, where both varieties ‘Andes Nec-2’ and ‘Andes Nec-3’ exhibit contrasting susceptibility to mealiness.…”