Biochemical Characterization of Some Varieties of Apricot Present in the Vesuvius Area, Southern Italy

The witnesses of the millenary history of Campania felix in southern Italy highlighted that several fruit and vegetables cultivated in such territory could potentially be a treasure trove of important health elements. Our work evaluated the content of ?-carotene, ascorbic acid, and total phenolics and the antioxidant activity of ten typical varieties of apricots cultivated in the Vesuvius area in the Campania region. The total polyphenols varied between 10.24 and 34.04 mg/100 g of a fresh sample. The amount of ascorbic acid also varied greatly, ranging from 2.65 to 10.65 mg/100 g of a fresh product. B-Carotene reached values up to 0.522 mg/100 g of the fresh sample. The correlation analysis accounting for these parameters showed that the antioxidant activity, calculated by 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH assay) and azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) tests, was influenced mainly by the ...