LAUSR

BACKGROUND Since the second half of the last century, the cultivation of ancient and local apple cultivars has almost disappeared from orchards in Italy. Some of these ancient apple cultivars often possess high nutraceutical values, and display lower allergenicity when compared to the modern ones, supporting the so-called 'green revolution' theory. RESULTS In this study, the phenolic composition and the antioxidant activity of five ancient apple cultivars (Belfiore, Pomella Genovese, Gravenstein, Bella del Bosco and Piatlin) were compared to a Golden Delicious commercial cultivar. Additionally, apples were tested for their potential allergenicity by detecting the presence of Mal d 3, a non-specific lipid transfer protein (nsLTP) that represent the main apples' allergen. All apples came from Northern Italy (Trentino Region) and were organically produced. Results showed that, for all cultivars, the skins contained more polyphenols than the pulps. Bella del Bosco had the highest amount of polyphenols as well as antioxidant activity, while Piatlin had the lowest phenolic content. All ancient cultivars presented a higher amount of pulp phenolic compounds than Golden Delicious. Immunoblotting techniques showed that Bella del Bosco and Piatlin had very low quantities of Mal d 3 allergen, hence they can be considered hypoallergenic cultivars. CONCLUSIONS The preservation of ancient apple cultivars would be of great importance, not only to maintain the biodiversity but also for their nutritional properties. The hypoallergenic activity of some of these cultivars could be of interest also for the preparation of different apple-based products. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.