KHALIL, AL-DINALI2025-01-062025-01-062020https://dspace.omu.edu.ly/handle/123456789/465ABSTRACTThis study was conducted on four different ripening stages of shmari fruits included unripe, intermediate, ripe and post-ripe, divided by color into green, yellow, orange and red, which grow in the Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar - Libya, obtained from the natural reserve of the Lamloda area (Al-Zardah forest) east of Al-Bayda, samples were collected between October and December 2016, the research included a study of the physical properties of fruits including the color characteristics, fruit weight, fruit diameter, total soluble solids, total acidity and pH value. The chemical properties included studying approximate fruit analysis, estimating the sugar content, minerals, pigments and ascorbic acid, in addition to estimating total phenols, total flavonoids, phenolic acid qualitative analysis and antioxidant potency using DPPH testing, ABTS testing and reduction power testing. In this study, juice and jam were also derived from full-mature (post-ripe) fennel fruits compared to strawberry juice and jam and sensorially assessed using the 9-point hedonic scale. Physical properties results showed that the highest weight value of 100 fruits was for red fruits (425 g/100 fruits) with an average of 4.25 g, while the lowest green fruit value (239.67 g/100 fruits) was an average of 2.40. The diameter of 100 fruits ranged from 10-21 mm to an average of 14.04 mm as the lowest green fruit value, while the highest value of 100 fruits was recorded by red fruits, ranging from 15-25 mm with an average of 18.11 mm. For total soluble solids for green, yellow, orange, and red fruit, were 22.93, 25.06, 27.11, and 27.70 degrees Brix, respectively. The highest value of total acidity for yellow fruits (2.22%) while the lowest value for red fruits (1.72%), showed no significant differences (P > 0.05) between red and orange fruits, while orange fruits displayed the highest pH value (3.73) and the lowest yellow fruit value (3.64), showed no significant differences (P > 0.05) between orange and red iv fruits. The results of estimating color properties using Hunter Lab showed a variation in values between different ripening stages. Regarding to chemical properties results showed that the dry matter content of shmari fruits ranged from 31.38% in yellow fruit to 34.51% in red fruit, ash content varied from 2.18% to 2.88% where green fruits showed the highest content while orange fruits showed the lowest content. The differences were always significant (P ≤ 0.05) for the dry matter and ash content at different ripening stages. The crude protein and crude fat contents ranged from 2.68-3.52% and 1.73-2.52% dw, respectively. The findings of the statistical analysis showed no significant difference in crude protein values between yellow and red fruits and in crude fat values between orange and red fruits. Crude fiber and nitrogen-free extract values ranged from 20.61-28.25% and 62.49-72.47%, respectively, based on dry weight. The differences were always significant (P ≤ 0.05). The total carbohydrate content ranged from 62.12-72.04%, there were no significant differences (P > 0.05) in the values of total carbohydrates between yellow and red fruits. The content of reducing sugars ranged from 21.40% in green fruits to 59.75% in orange fruits, and the content of total sugars and non-reducing sugars ranged between 24.57-60% and 0.25-5.08%, respectively, on the basis of dry weight. The differences were always significant (P ≤ 0.05) in the content of reducing sugars at different ripening stages, whereas the results of the statistical analysis did not show significant differences (P> 0.05) between orange and red fruits in the values total sugars and non-reducing sugars. The results of the analysis of individual sugars using HPLC system showed that fructose sugar is the dominant sugar in shmari fruits, where the value ranged from 13.27-43.86%, followed by glucose sugar values ranging from 6.64-16.02%, and the values of glucose 1.52% and 0.77% for green and yellow fruits, respectively, the orange and v red fruits did not contain this sugar. The differences were always significant (P ≤ 0.05) of the individual sugars content at different ripening stages. The findings of the mineral elements analysis showed that potassium is the dominant element in the different ripening stages of shmari fruits with values ranging from 14328.61 to 16249.96 ppm, then calcium with values ranging from 2515.07 to 4963.28 ppm, followed by phosphorus and sodium was the least element among the major elements analyzed, the values of iron, zinc, copper and manganese ranged from 12.32 to 23.93, 1.69 to 13.84, 3.33 to 4.79 and 3.45 to 5.46 ppm respectively, the highest concentration of which was iron element followed by zinc and the least concentrated element copper. The content of anthocyanins ranged from 2.93 in green fruit to 31.21 mg/100 g dw in red fruit (expressed as cyanidine-3-glucoside), whereas the total content of carotenoids ranged from 9,91 in green fruit to 12.12 mg/100 g of fruit dry matter. Red fruit (consisting beta-carotene content of 2.58 to 4.92 mg/100 g substance and lycopene content of 5.41 to 7.90 mg/100 g dry matter). The total amount of chlorophyll ranged from 3.40 mg/100 g in yellow fruit to 13.25 mg/100 g dry matter in green fruit (consisting of 1.43 to 7.36 mg/100 g chlorophyll a content and chlorophyll b 1.98 to 5.88 mg/100 g dry matter). The total content of phenols ranged from 1507.59 in orange fruits to 2913.05 in green fruits (expressed as gallic acid equivalent per 100 g of dry matter), while the total content of flavonoids ranged from 409.68 to 901.38 (expressed as catechin equivalent per 100 g of dry matter). The results of statistical analysis showed no significant differences in ascorbic acid values between yellow and orange fruits. The results of the qualitative analysis using liquid chromatography -mass spectroscopy showed that the phenolic part contains derivatives of quinic acid (Quininc acid derivatives, Vanillic acid-hexoside, Naringenin derivative, Secoisolariciresinol hexoside, and Quercetin glucoside derivative). vi The antioxidant activity values calculated at a concentration that scans 50% of free radicals using the DPPH test ranged from 0.680 to 1.742 mg/ml. while the ABTS test values were 0.500 to 1.281 mg/ml, and reducing power test ranged from 0.414 to 1.135 mg/ml. The differences were always significant (P ≤ 0.05) at different ripening stages. In correlation study, all results correlated positively and significantly with each other (P < 0.001). The highest relationship was found between DPPH assay with ABTS assay (r = 0.9950, P < 0.001), while the lowest was between DPPH assay with reducing power (r = 0.9756, P < 0.001). The results of the sensory evaluation of shmari and strawberry fruit juice and jam showed similar values on the 9-point hedonic scale, 7.26 and 6.32 for shmari and strawberry juice, 7.45 and 7.50 for jam of shmari and strawberry fruit, respectively.Thesis