Some physical and chemical parameters of wild medlar (Mespilus germanica L.) fruit grown in Turkey

Physical and chemical parameters of medlar fruit are necessary for the design of equipment to handle, harvest, process, store the product and nutrition values. In this study, the medlar (Mespilus germanica L.) fruit was studied to determine for some physical (dimension, geometric mean diameter, sphericity, bulk density, fruit density, volume, hardness and porosity) and chemical (moisture, crude protein, oil, energy, fibre and ash, pH, acidity, water-soluble extract, alcohol-soluble extract and ether-soluble extracts) properties. Moisture, crude oil, protein, fibre, energy, and ash, acidity, pH, water-soluble extract, alcohol-soluble and ether-soluble were found to be 72.15%, 4.09%, 3.71%, 11.4%, 16.5 kcal/g, 1.96%, 0.28%, 4.26, 68.89%, 53.35% and 2.41% (dry basis (except for pH)), respectively. Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer (ICP-AES) determined the mineral content of medlar fruit. Potassium (8052.91 mg/kg) was present in the highest concentration, following S, Ca, B and P. Also, K, S, Ca, B and S were present in higher concentrations, and traces of Cr, Ti and V were also determined. The fruit mass, diameter, volume, geometric mean diameter, sphericity and projected area were measured as 11.98 g, 27.68 mm, 13.68 cm3, 28.86 mm, 0.92, and 9.25 cm2, respectively. The changes in physical and chemical properties of fruits having about the same size were probably due to environmental conditions in conjunction with the analytical methods used. Consequently, the analytical values showed rich nutritional properties and mineral contents of medlar fruits. Also, the mineral content of medlar fruit is of great interest. In addition, knowledge of the physical properties of equipment used in planting, harvesting, transportation, storage and processing of matured medlar fruits is very important. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.