TRADE ANALYSIS OF MOUNTAIN ASH FRUITS AS A SOURCE OF VALUABLE MICRONUTRIENTS IN THE PRODUCTION OF FUNCTIONAL PRODUCTS
Mountain ash as food and medicinal plant in Europe was known in the middle ages, where it is used today too. Its great varieties selected by I.V. Michurin are appreciated for their excellent taste and fruits nutritional properties and they are grown in many regions of the Russian Federation. The purpose of the research was trade analysis two mountain ash samples grown in the conditions of the Central Chernozyom zone of Russia, in Michurin National Research Institute. Trade analysis of mountain ash quality carried out by the wide list of indexes enables to characterize the prospective selection varieties Sobinka and Titan as valuable vegetable raw materials with a high content of various biologically active substances: ascorbic acid, carotenoids and P-active substances. In mountain ash fruits vitamins B1, B4, B6 and PP are also identified, the high content of substances with antioxidant activity is revealed. In addition, mountain ash fruits are a source of amino acids, the most important micro - and macro-elements. Thus, the application of mountain ash fruits of researching varieties will contribute to solving problems of rational nature use, as well as expansion of food products assortment including the functional ones.