Dried Fruits – Brief Characteristics of their Nutritional Values. Author’s Own Data for Dietary Fibers Content

Abstract

A review of nutritional and dietetic properties of dried fruits, such as natural and concentrated sources of sugars, vitamins A, C, niacin, riboflavin and folate, potassium and trace elements of iron and copper, and of organic acids, phytonutrients with antioxidant properties was made. Many important properties of dry fruits have a low glycemic index and the content of dietary fiber, including insoluble fiber. The results of insoluble dietary fiber content by enzymatic-gravimetric method AOAC 991.42 of 18 kinds of different varieties Bulgarian dried fruits were shown. The highest content of fiber was found in hips (40%), followed by dried quinces, pears, chokeberries, dried apples, and plums (from about 13% to over 23%). A lower content of insoluble fiber in different varieties of cherries and sour cherries is established. The data are important for a healthy nutrition of Bulgarian population, but also for a diet-therapeutic practice, and problems related to motility of the gastrointestinal system, anemia, and atherosclerosis, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.