Determination of d-pinitol in carob syrup

Abstract

Carob syrup is a traditional product native to the Mediterranean region, containing a high concentration of sugar, phenolic compounds and minerals. d-pinitol is a bioactive component extracted from legumes and has some beneficial effects on human metabolism. In this research, the d-pinitol content and sugar profile of 10 different carob syrup samples purchased from Turkish markets were determined. Mean d-pinitol, sucrose, glucose and fructose contents of samples were found to be 84.63 ± 10.73, 385.90 ± 45.07, 152.44 ± 21.72 and 162.03 ± 21.45 g/kg dry weight, respectively. Carob syrup has a considerable amount of d-pinitol compared with the other d-pinitol-including legumes. Consequently, this study showed that carob syrup may be a suitable source of d-pinitol for medical use and d-pinitol may be an indicator for the detection of any adulteration in carob syrup.

Keywords::

• Carob syrup
• legume
• d-pinitol
• sugar profile
• bioactive components
• nutrition

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Associate Professor Dr David Turner (School of Plant Biology, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, The University of West Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia) and Mark Bechara (Agricultural and Biological Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA) for their reviews and comments on manuscript.

Declaration of interest: The present study was supported by the Akdeniz University Research Fund.