Effect of Drying of Figs (Ficus carica L.) on the Contents of Sugars, Organic Acids, and Phenolic Compounds

Fresh figs were subjected to two different drying processes sun-drying and oven-drying To assess their effect on the nutritional and health-related properties of figs, sugars, organic acids, single phenolics, total phenolics, and antioxidant activity were determined before and after processing Samples were analyzed three times in a year, and phenolic compounds were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (HPLC-M) In figs, monomer sugars predominate, which is important nutritional information, and the content of sugars as well as organic acids in fresh figs was lower than in dried fruits However, the best sugar/organic acid ratio was measured after the sun-drying process Analysis of individual phenolic compounds revealed higher content of all phenolic groups determined after the oven-drying process, with the exception of cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside Similarly, higher total phenolic content and antioxidant activity were detected after the drying process With these results it,can be concluded that the differences in analyzed compounds in fresh and dried figs are significant The differences between the sun-dried and oven-dried fruits-were determined m organic acids, sugars, chlorogenic acid, catechin, epicatechin, kaempferol-3-O-glucoside, luteolin-8-C-glucoside, and total phenolic contents The results indicate that properly dried figs can be used as a good source of phenolic compounds