Recent rapid growth of the cider industry calls for research on juice chemistry of cider apples, with emphasis on the impact of fruit chemistry on fermentation performance and cider quality. Amino acids are essential for yeast metabolism. Along with ammonium ions, they constitute the yeast assimilable nitrogen in apple juice. The composition and concentration of yeast assimilable nitrogen will influence both the fermentation kinetics and volatile aroma production in cider making. Twenty-one amino acids were characterized and quantified in juice of 15 cider apple cultivars grown in Virginia that have potential for use in cider making. Amino acids were identified and quantified by UPLC-PDA system with Waters AccQ●Tag™ Ultra derivatization kits. The amino acid composition was significantly different cross apple cultivars. The total amino acid concentration ranged from 14 mg/L in Golden Delicious to 127 mg/L in Enterprise. Asparagine, aspartic acid, and glutamine are the principal amino acids in most apple juices. Serine, arginine, threonine, alanine, γ-amino butyric acid, proline, lysine, tyrosine, methionine, valine, isoleucine, leucine, and phenylalanine were also present in most apple juice with relatively lower concentration. The relative concentration of amino acids in cider apples is different than found in <i>Vitis vinifera</i> wine grapes, which are rich in proline and arginine, and the impact of these differences on fermentation of apple juice by wine yeast warrants further research. These results are also informative for further study on yeast metabolism and nitrogen management during fermentation in cider production.

Survey of amino acid composition in cider apples grown in Virginia by UPLC-PDA

251st National Meeting (2016)

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