Transformation of Apple Composition during Cider Production

Cider is obtained by fermenting mashed apples of special cider varieties. The Russian State Register of Selection Achievements includes 476 varieties of apples, some of which can be used in commercial cider production. To identify potential cider cultivars, food scientists study the transformation of chemicals in apple mash during fermentation. The research involved 16 samples of apple mash and cider obtained from apples of foreign and domestic selection. Their physicochemical, biochemical, and sensory parameters were identified using standard methods, as well as the methods of high-performance capillary electrophoresis and gas chromatography. The samples revealed a wide range of concentrations of titratable acids, phenolic substances, ascorbic acids, and phenolcarboxylic acids, depending on the cultivar. After fermentation, the content of ascorbic acid decreased by an average of 76%. The content of phenolcarboxylic acids in the cider samples increased by an average of 51% compared with the apple mash samples. The ciders contained succinic, oxalic, lactic, and acetic acids, which were not registered in the apple mash, and the concentration of amino acids doubled. The cider from the Virginia variety had the best sensory profile, and it also had the highest concentration of phenolic substances (1121.6 mg/dm3). In this research, the best characteristics belonged to the ciders from apple varieties with a complex interspecific origin, obtained by a complex of polyploidy and distant hybridization methods, and with high concentrations of sugars and phenolic substances in the apple mash. Further research will test varieties of other origins and physicochemical properties for their potential use in cider, vodka, and calvados production.