Fruit growing
and viticulture of South Russia

Annotation

Cornus mas L. is one of the most common wild plants in Azerbaijan, introduced into culture and its fruits are among the most beloved fruits of the local population. Unfortunately, these fruits are short-lived and very poorly stored. Fresh, they are not available for a short time. Therefore, they are canned, and the canning of cornel is usually reduced to obtaining compotes and jam from it. This study is devoted to obtaining a concentrated juice base for clear beverages from fresh cornel fruits, given that this area has great potential for processing this specific raw material at a high rate and with high material return. The objects of research were fruits of varieties (Armudu zoğal and Irimeyvəli zogal) and forms (Meşə zoğalı -1, Meşə zoğalı -2) of cornel from the Guba region (Azerbaijan). The studies were conducted in accordance with GOST 16524-2017, which applies to fresh fruits of wild cornel (Cornus mas L.) and cultivated varieties (hereinafter � cornel fruits) harvested, supplied and sold fresh for consumption, as well as intended for industrial processing. Obtaining a concentrated base of beverages was carried out by a method involving heating whole fruits in a stainless steel boiler with the addition of 20 % water to their mass at a temperature of 80-90 ºC before cracking of the fruits, pressing the heated mass together with water, clarification using the food enzyme Fructozym - MA manufactured by ERBSLOH Geisenheim A.G. (Germany), filtration and evaporation under vacuum to a pre-determined residual amount of water. The study of the composition of fresh fruits and juices was carried out by chemical analysis. It was found that fresh fruits and primary and concentrated juices obtained from them have an exceptionally high content of organic acids, tannins and coloring substances and ascorbic acid, which is why they can be attributed to products that can reduce the negative impact on the human body of the deteriorating environmental situation from year to year. The widespread introduction of this method of processing into practice will allow not only to intensify the processing of cornel fruits, but also to obtain a target product that can become the basis of functional beverages.

Annotation

The fruits of the sweet cherry plant (Prunus avium L.) with a high percentage of water quickly deteriorate, so research is constantly being conducted to extend access to fresh sweet cherries in the intercrop. Now in the Guba-Khachmaz region, emphasis is placed on new varieties of sweet cherries, especially Ziraat 0900 and Lapins, grown here on medium-sized rootstock Maxima-14 of French origin. The advantages of these varieties include high yield capacuty, as well as the fact that their fruits have an ideal shape, taste and color with a pronounced shine. Little is known about their properties such as responsiveness to different conditions of post-harvest storage, and orientation in this matter to literary data may be unjustified, given that in many respects they are formed under the influence of edaphoclimatic conditions of the growing region. The main objective of this study was precisely to increase awareness of this issue. In addition to the above two varieties, the experiments, for comparison, also included the fruits of the sweet cherry variety �Cow Heart�, grown in this region traditionally on a tall rootstock (wild). The fruits of the three aforementioned varieties were harvested 5-7 days before their full ripening. They were stored in closed plastic bags for 1 kg (25x40 cm in size, 0,05 mm thick) for 3 weeks at a temperature of 0 ... + 2 ºC and a relative humidity of 90-95 %. During storage, changes in the taste and color of fruits and pedicels were evaluated, as well as the natural decline and yield of standard fruits. Before and after storage, the content of dry soluble substances, total sugar and vitamin C and titrated acidity were determined. Storage of sweet cherries under these conditions led to significant natural losses, which, depending on the variety, amounted to 5.1-9.8 %. The yield of standard fruits of the Cow heart variety was 80.0 %, and it was significantly higher in the Ziraat 0900 and Lapins varieties � 89,9 and 88,7 %, respectively. Thus, the sweet cherries of the latest introduced varieties Ziraat 0900and Lapins turned out to be more suitable for cold storage without freezing than the sweet cherries of the Cow Heart variety, which appeared in Azerbaijan many decades ago and belongs to the old Western European cultivars.

Annotation

The Fortunella margarita fruits ripen in Azerbaijan in December-February. They are stored fresh for a short time, but the period of their consumption can be significantly increased due to canning. Although jam and candied fruits can be made from kumquat fruits, considering that this is a very small fruit with a very thin and soft skin of a beautiful golden color and orange pulp, such canned food is rare here now. This may be due to some substances that are part of the kumquat, capable of highlighting their overall taste, introducing unusual nuances into it, which is what this study is aimed at finding out. The applied methodology was based on chemical and technological tests that were carried out in the laboratory of Fruit Processing and Storage Technologies of the Research Institute of Fruit and Tea Growing of the Ministry of Agriculture of Azerbaijan. Samples of jam and candied fruits were obtained from fresh kumquat, bought at the indoor market in Guba city, and their taste qualities were evaluated. It was found that both of these products have an attractive appearance and energy value, but also with a difference in taste: jam is a little bitter, and candied fruits devoid of this disadvantage. This is due to the fact that at the end of the candied fruit preparation process, the fruits are separated from the sugar syrup, in which the main part of the bitter substances is concentrated. Thus, the preparation of jam from this specific raw material requires intervention aimed at eliminating excessive bitterness.