CONTENT OF SUGARS IN FRESH GRAPES AND RAISINS, AND FRESH AND DRIED APRICOT: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Sugars, mainly fructose, glucose, maltose and sucrose ratios in the fresh red grape and raisins and in the fresh and dried apricot fruit were determined by High Performance Liquid Chromatography, HPLC, equipped with Ec 250/4.6 Nucleodur 100-5 NH2-RP column and Refractometer -RID as a detector. Each type of the four samples was separately homogenized after removing the seeds from the samples before crushing, and in this study the deionized water was used for extraction of sugars. The ratio of each sugar in the four investigated cultivars was compared as well as comparing the contents of total sugars between these types, and it became obvious that fructose and glucose recorded significant increase rather than sucrose and maltose in these cultivars. Comparison has also been conducted for determination of fructose, glucose, maltose and sucrose ratios between the fresh red grapes and raisins on one hand, and between the fresh apricot fruit and dried apricot on the other. The study showed that the raisins contain high level of fructose, glucose, maltose and sucrose compared to the fresh grapes. Moreover, the sugar content in the dried apricot was higher than the sugar contents in the fresh apricot fruit.