Some nutritional and technological properties of wild plum (Prunus spp.) fruits in Turkey

Nutritional and technological properties for the design of fruit processing machines were determined for wild plum fruit, at a moisture content of 20.65% (d.b.). The moisture, ash, crude protein, crude oil, crude fibre, pH, acidity, water soluble-extract and mineral contents of completely ripe fruits were investigated. Mineral content of wild plum growing in Turkey were determined by an inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer (ICP-AES). All materials contained high amounts of K (9879.57 mg/kg), Ca (920.82 mg/kg), Mg (916.68 mg/kg), P (659.15 mg/kg), S (122.69 mg/kg), Na (40.46 mg/kg) and Fe (30.1 mg/kg). Also, technological properties such as length and diameter of fruit, unit mass, volume of fruit, geometric mean diameter, sphericity, bulk density, fruit density, porosity, projected area, terminal velocity kernel and pulp mass, static and dynamic coefficient of friction were measured at 20.65% moisture content. The values of length, mass, diameter, geometric mean diameter and sphericity of wild plum fruit were established as 28.14 mm, 15.33 g, 30.16 mm, 29.47 mm and 1.04, respectively. In the same moisture content, projected area, volume, kernel and pulp mass, bulk density, fruit density, porosity, terminal velocity, fruit hardness, static friction and dynamic friction coefficients were determined as 8.96 cm(2), 17.02 cm(3), 1.60 g, 15.66 g, 515.12 kg/m(3), 1057.99 kg/m(3), 50.20%, 16.19 m/s, 7.8 N, 0.449-0.625 and 0.381-0.519, respectively. This work attempts to allocate the knowledge deficit on the nutritional properties of these plants. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd.