Evaluation of Some Quality Indicators and Prospects for Using Different Varieties of Pear Fruit in Medicine

Abstract

In this article, the authors studied the macrodiagnostic characteristics of pear fruits of three varieties that are most common in the food markets of the Russian Federation. To date, the standardization of such promising and rich in the composition of biologically active substances (BAS) raw materials is carried out only in accordance with the state Standards of the food industry. The research was aimed at developing quality indicators necessary for identifying raw materials that could be considered as a source for obtaining medicinal substances. For all the studied fruits, the total content of extractive substances, organic acids in terms of malic acid and pectin substances was determined. The content of extractive substances was from 15.8% to 17.6%, organic acids - from 0.34% to 1.09%, pectin substances - from 1.15% to 1.87%. As a result of the qualitative reactions, the data of TLC-spectrophotometric method pear fruits, the varieties which are most widely cultivated on the territory of the Russian Federation, was identified as arbutin, which allows to consider the material as a promising source of valuable biologically-active substances and actualizes the further research aimed at developing modern methods of standardization for inclusion in the proposed regulatory documentation.