Fruit composition and firmness of local apple and pear cultivars for traditional Italian preserves

The production of different traditional fruit-based preserves has been maintained in many areas of Italy until today. In Reggio Emilia province (North East of Italy) “savurett”, “savor” and mustards are obtained processing the fruits of old local varieties that combine a good adaptation to the environment and suitable qualitative characteristics. In the mountain areas the main cultivars used to make “savurett”, a preserve without added sugar, are pear Spalèr whose juice is cooked for a long time, and pear Nobile (Barabàn) of which slices are added at the end of thermal process to give consistency. Sometimes, apples of Rosa Romana, Ruggine and other varieties are also used. The apple cultivars Campanino and Ferro and the pear Nobile are used to produce mustard. The characterization of this raw material gives information on technological and sensory properties that contribute to the product quality. A survey and sampling was therefore carried out to study these different pear and apple varieties in comparison with current commercial cultivars for fresh consumption: Abate Fetel and Decana d’inverno pears and Golden Delicious, Granny Smith and Stayman apples. Pomological traits, fruit firmness, refractometric index, titratable acidity were analyzed. Low juiciness characterizes the apples Campanino and Ferro and the pear Nobile. Among apples, the highest soluble solids content was measured in apples Ruggine and Rosa Romana, which differed in acidity, with the highest values in Rosa Romana and the lowest in Ruggine. All the old apple varieties had a higher firmness than the commercial cultivars, with the highest values in Campanino and Ferro. The soluble solids content was similar in Spalér and Nobile but the acidity was the highest in Spalér and the lowest in Nobile. The low acidity and the high ratio between soluble solids content and acidity is likely the reason of the strong sweetness perceived in the consumption of Nobile fruits and derived products. This cultivar is characterized by the highest fruit firmness, which is outside the range of values generally found in commercial varieties for fresh consumption. The current exploitation of these products and varieties actively contributes to their safeguard and to the enhancement of the local economy.