Water-soluble constituents of fruit. IV. The organic acids in peaches

Abstract

The acids in several varieties of peaches were separated by displacement chromatography on strongly basic anion-exchange resins. l-Quinic, L-malic, and citric acids were the three main acids, any one of them being the predominant acid depending on the variety, season, and maturity of the fruit. Mucic acid was found in small quantity in all samples ; galacturonic acid was only present in fruit picked at commercial maturity and ripened at 20 °C. The effect of maturity on the three major acids was studied for one crop of Blackburn Elberta peaches; the immature fruit contained only traces of citric acid.