[Detection of fruit juice adulteration in apple and pear juice]

A method has been developed to detect the adulteration of pear juice with apples and apple juice with pears. In different varieties of apples and pears and in several commercial juices the flavonoids were examined by HPLC with respect to their quality and quantity. The chalcones phloretin glucoside and phloretin xyloglucoside are typical compounds found in apples (detection limit 7 ng). They are suitable indicators for detecting adulteration of pear juice with apples. Isohamnetin glucoside cannot be detected in apples (detection limit 10 ng), but can be used to detect pears in apple juice. The extract or juice was purified with the aid of a polyamide column. The evaporated eluate of methanol was analysed by HPLC (gradient: acetonitrile/1% acetic acid). An RP-18 column and a UV-detector were used. Additionally, the UV spectra of the compounds indicating an adulteration were recorded by a diode array detector.