QUALITY AND SAFETY OF FRESH FRUITS

Abstract

Plum fruits have harmonious taste qualities and valuable biochemical composition. Plum is characterized by a low content of vitamin C, but in combination with high concentrations of phenolic compounds, is of great value as a source of antioxidants. The problem of improving the quality and ensuring the safety of food products is not only relevant, but is also one of the most important economic problems at the present stage. The aim of the research was to study the quality and safety of fresh plums sold in retail trade. It has been established that in the stores of the retail trade network «Dixi» (Chelyabinsk city) fresh plums are being realized, not only satisfying the requirements of the quality of the current regulatory documents, but also products belonging to a category such as «waste». Excellent organoleptic indicators (attractive appearance, bright color scale) of the studied products were not always consistent with high nutritional value. Thus, benign fractions of the Hungarian and Renclaw plums had the most acceptable taste characteristics and high nutrient content, but due to the content of rotten fruits in the overall product sample, they should not be in free implementation. The highest commodity grade of plum mirabel established during the quality assessment did not guarantee its high nutritional value. The content in the Renclod plums and the mirabel of toxic elements (lead and cadmium) was significantly lower than the level found in the fruits of Chinese plum and Hungarian. The need for additional pre-sales preparation and sorting of the fruits of the Hungarian and Rencloid plums is identified, which will allow to increase not only the quality and safety of products, the culture of customer service, but also to extend the shelf life of commodity lots of fresh plums in general.