Quality of natural vinegar from various apple cultivars

Jabučni ocat je prehrambeni proizvod vrlo velike nutritivne i dijetetske vrijednosti. Najbolja sirovina za njegovu proizvodnju je zdrav i sočan plod sorata jabuke sa većim sadržajem šećera. Proizvodnja jabučnog octa sve je češća na poljoprivrednim gospodarstvima u Republici Hrvatskoj. U posljednje vrijeme proizvodnja jabuka se povećava, a time i ukupna količina prerađevina. Cilj ovog istraživanja je određivanje kakvoće prirodnog octa od jabuka sorti Idared, Gloster, Golden Delicious i Jonagold. Istraživanja su provedena u razdoblju od veljače do rujna 2005. godine. Tijekom istraživanja praćena je octena fermentacija jabučnih vina uz određivanje ukupne kiselosti i vrijednosti pH. U octu s većim udjelom sorata Golden Delicious, Gloster i Jonagold utvrđene su veće količine octene kiseline. Sorta Idared pogodna je za proizvodnju octa samo uz dodatak ostalih sorata, jer sama ne postiže trgovačku jačinu octa.Apple vinegar is an agricultural and alimentary product. It has great nutritious and dietetic value. The best raw material for its production is healthy apple fruit of adequate cultivars that contain a greater amount of sugar and dry matter. Better raw material allows the production of a better final product. The production of apple vinegar is more and more popular on farms all over Croatia; a big quantity of apple vinegar is used in everyday life, as well as other apple products and derivates. The research aimed at defining the quality of vinegars produced from 4 apple cultivars (Idared, Gloster, Golden Delicious and Jonagold) on 6 samples with different cultivar proportions. The research was performed in the period from February to September 2005. The fermentation was monitored during the research. After the fermentation, pH-level and acid quantity were measured in the samples. The results showed that the samples of vinegar with a greater amount of cultivars Golden Delicious, Gloster and Jonagold gained a greater quantity of acids. The cultivar Idared gains a smaller quantity of acids and for that reason it is recommended for vinegar production only in cases when other apple cultivars are added to help the formation of acceptable acid amount